Kansas City, Mo. ? Four people, including two convenience store owners, were charged in federal court Tuesday with conspiring to distribute an over-the-counter medication that is an ingredient in methamphetamine.

Rady I. Sdoulam, 32; Eiad M. Musallet, 25; Christopher W. Queen, 44; and his wife, Nancy E. Queen, 38, were charged in U.S. District Court in Kansas City with one count of conspiring to distribute pseudoephedrine, having reasonable cause to believe it would be used to make meth.

According to court documents, the Queens supplied Sdoulam and Musallet with pseudoephedrine and cigarettes that they had shoplifted from other area stores.

Musallet and Sdoulam allegedly worked together at their two convenience stores in Kansas City, Kan., and Grandview to sell the pseudoephedrine to people who make meth.

Court documents said an undercover officer bought hundreds of boxes of pills containing pseudoephedrine from Sdoulam and Musallet between August 2001 and April 2002, even after the officer told the store owners he was using the tablets to make meth.

Meanwhile, Overland Park, Kan., Police were called to a Target Superstore on Dec. 26, after the Queens were allegedly caught trying to shoplift 13 boxes of pseudoephedrine tablets. According to court documents, the Queens told officers they were stealing the drugs and cigarettes to sell to Musallet.