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Posted on Thu, Dec. 15, 2005

Authorities in San Diego announce largest steroid bust in history

ATISH BAIDYA
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO - Five Mexican men were in custody Thursday and 18 others were being sought in what federal authorities called the largest illegal steroid bust in history.

A federal grand jury in San Diego indicted 23 individuals, including three U.S. citizens, and eight Mexican companies accused of producing and distributing 80 percent of the steroids illegally smuggled into the United States. Charges included conspiracy to import anabolic steroids and launder money.

One of the men in custody, Albert Saltiel Cohen, a Mexico City veterinarian, owned three companies that accounted for three-fourths of the anabolic steroids seized in the United States, said prosecutor Shane Harrigan.

"This garbage is readily available over the Internet," said Donald Hooten of Plano, Texas, whose 17-year-old son, Taylor, killed himself after suffering with depression linked to his steroid use. "You talk to most kids about the drug and they have no idea it is illegal."

The eight companies used the Internet to reach a broad client base in the United States. Investigators have identified over 2,000 U.S. customers, ranging from individuals to distributors, but prosecutors said the main focus of the two-year investigation dubbed "Operation Gear Grinder" was suppliers, not buyers.

The eight companies all operated under the guise of veterinary medicine suppliers, but most of the products listed on company Web sites were anabolic steroids sold in doses fit only for humans. One of the companies, the Syd Group of Michoacan, Mexico, sold steroids under the brand "Testerona," with a bottle that featured a muscle-bound kangaroo.

Customers could place orders by phone or e-mail, pay by wire transfers and have steroids smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border or shipped directly to them.

Distributors' Web sites such as SteroidsClub.com and Roidsshop.com prominently displayed the names of the eight companies named in the indictment.

"You could fill up your shopping cart with steroids," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Coughlin.

Prosecutors said manufacturers and distributors worked closely, enhancing product quality and volume to satisfy demand. The drugs also would be distributed in mass quantities to pharmacies and veterinary supply stores located close to the U.S. border and Mexican cities popular with American tourists.

"This international operation will greatly diminish the supply of anabolic steroids produced in Mexico that are being sold illegally in the United States," said John Fernandes, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's San Diego bureau.