Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Uncover 13 Cases of Illegal Activities by Pharmaceutical Companies

Cases of Illegal Activities by Type of Pharmaceutical Companies

Gyeonggi Province has uncovered numerous illegal activities by pharmaceutical companies, including the illegal storage of hazardous materials exceeding 30 times the designated quantity and storing hazardous materials that cannot be stored together in the same location.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 24th that from February 6 to April 14, they investigated 60 pharmaceutical company sites within the province for illegal hazardous material storage and other violations, uncovering 13 cases of violations of the 'Hazardous Materials Safety Control Act' and filing criminal charges.

Among the major violations, Pharmaceutical Company A located in Hwaseong City stored Class 4 hazardous materials such as cyclohexane exceeding 30 times the designated quantity at an unauthorized location. Another Pharmaceutical Company B in Hwaseong City was caught storing Class 4 hazardous materials such as methanol at 1.72 times the designated quantity in a reagent storage room within a laboratory.

Pharmaceutical Company C in Ansan City stored Class 4 hazardous materials such as normal heptane at 10.5 times the designated quantity in an unauthorized waste storage area. Another Pharmaceutical Company D in Ansan City was caught storing ethanol (Class 4 hazardous material), which is highly explosive and should not be stored together, along with sulfur and iron (Class 2 hazardous materials) in the same location during this crackdown.

Under the current 'Hazardous Materials Safety Control Act,' companies storing hazardous materials exceeding the designated quantity in places other than storage or manufacturing facilities face imprisonment of up to three years or fines up to 30 million KRW, while companies storing mixed hazardous materials face fines up to 15 million KRW.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare, stated, "Due to the nature of pharmaceutical companies, it is difficult to obtain prior information on the types and quantities of hazardous materials, which can lead to major accidents in the event of a fire. We will continue investigations of related companies to prevent tragic incidents like the pharmaceutical company explosion that occurred in Hwaseong last year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.