Kien Leng Heng pleads guilty to more than 50 charges after stealing his own stock of oxycodone
A drugged-up Highett pharmacist caught dipping into his own stash of oxycodone — also known as ‘hillbilly heroin’ — claims he has beaten his addiction by hypnosis.
South East
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A Highett pharmacist caught stealing highly addictive drugs out of his own stock and falsifying records to cover his tracks claims he beat his addiction by hypnosis, a court has heard.
Kien Leng Heng, 37, pleaded guilty in the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on May 2 to more than 50 charges of failing to retain records of transactions for several Schedule 8 poisons.
The father-of-two owned and ran the Terry White Chemist in Highett from 2017 to 2022, before being exposed for over-ordering large amounts of prescription medications containing alprazolam and oxycodone in a 2022 investigation by the Melbourne Department of Health.
The investigation found Heng’s pharmacy to be one of the highest purchasers of alprazolam in Victoria in that year.
The department received transaction records from Heng for that period, which matched the prescription record; however, there were significant discrepancies noted, resulting in an audit of the pharmacy.
The audit revealed Heng had not been using the correct recording system, leading to significant discrepancies in stock, showing incoming drugs far outweighed those outgoing.
Throughout the investigation, Heng strongly denied self-medicating or onselling the products.
Heng claimed he had “thrown away” stock when he believed he’d over-ordered, without recording their destruction.
He claimed he had been doing this since late 2020.
He later admitted to falsifying records of drug disposal, to try and cover his offending.
The investigation uncovered nine unrecorded deliveries, all containing two drug types with alprazolam and oxycodone.
The court heard Heng had no reason for the sudden over-ordering of the alprazolam and oxycodone drugs, which began in 2021.
His pharmaceutical licence was suspended after the investigation, when he sold the pharmacy.
The investigation found at least 2550 tablets containing alprazolam and at least 3298 tablets containing oxycodone had gone missing over the two year period under audit.
After vehemently denying that he had been using the drugs himself, Heng was caught driving with drugs in his system in August 2023.
Heng returned a positive oral fluid test result for crystal meth and GHB.
In court on Thursday, Heng’s defence team said he had been dipping into his own stock to feed his addiction.
“He was facing significant stress and pressure following the Covid-19 period,” his lawyer said.
“He was in effect, self-medicating.”
The court heard Heng had since undergone hypnosis to kick his drug habit.
Magistrate Jan McLean was not convinced.
“One of the most troubling features of this case is the amount of drugs that have gone under the radar,” she said.
“You and I both know in regards to opioid addiction (hypnosis) is highly unlikely to be successful with two of the most addictive drugs in our community.”
Ms McLean ordered Heng to be assessed for a community corrections order ahead of her sentencing decision.
Heng will return to the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on May 13 for sentence.
