Propofol. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]
Propofol. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]

Police have launched an investigation after a large quantity of controlled pharmaceutical drugs was found hidden inside a bathroom ceiling during a renovation at an apartment in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

According to the Cheongju Heungdeok Police Station and Channel A, 35 vials of propofol in seven boxes and 125 ampoules of pethidine hydrochloride in five boxes were discovered Thursday in the bathroom ceiling of an apartment unit in Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju.

The drugs spilled out all at once when a demolition crew broke through the ceiling panel while tearing out bathroom wall tiles and a washbasin as part of the renovation.

Both propofol and pethidine hydrochloride are controlled prescription drugs used for sedation and pain relief, requiring a doctor's prescription and strict management.

The former owner, who had lived in the unit until just before the renovation began, reportedly contacted the demolition company to complain about the police report being filed.

The former owner was quoted as telling the company, "These were medications I had received from a hospital and kept. It would have been better if you had told us first — now this has blown up into a big deal. They're old drugs, so I don't remember exactly."

Police are investigating how the former owner came to possess such a large quantity of controlled drugs, why they were concealed in the bathroom ceiling, and how the drugs were obtained.


bbo@heraldcorp.com