Buying
HGH from Mexico is Illegal
Operation
Raw Deal
Operation
Raw Deal was the biggest and most elaborate illicit Hormone
Supplement Sting ever conducted by American Law Enforcement.
Operation Raw Deal was the culmination of years of research and
undercover police work leading to more than fifty arrests across the
United States. In the final series of drug busts, DEA agents targeted
twenty six illegal Steroid production facilities and their operators
across the United States.
Just in
that one week's bust, over three hundred pounds of illegal Steroids
were confiscated. The Drug Enforcement Administration also obtained
data on thirty seven Chinese facilities that manufactured and
distributed the raw ingredients used to create Steroid Capsules and
Injections. Although the main goal of Operation Raw deal was to bust
illicit Testosterone distributors, other drugs were also targeted as
well, among those being Insulin-like Growth Factor One (IGF-1) and
Human Growth Hormone.
American
law enforcement officials spent eighteen months quietly accumulating
evidence and data about these illegal Steroid operations across
America. Over the eighteen month span in which Operation Raw Deal was
active, 124 criminals were apprehended in twenty seven different
states. These raids ultimately led to the closure of 56 underground
laboratories. In addition to the 124 arrests made, 143 federal search
warrants were served. Where the arrests generally occurred may
surprise you. Most of the culprits were nabbed in quiet, affluent
suburban housing developments.
Operation
Raw Deal led to the breakdown of more than one hundred locations
associated with the manufacture or distribution of illegal hormone
supplements. Among the chemicals confiscated from these locations
were counterfeit supplements, illegally obtained prescription
medicines, and chemical precursors designed to be converted into
hormones. These various ingredients come from some thirty black
market Chinese drug manufacturers.
Illegal
Steroids and Pro Athletes
In the
Operation Raw Deal case, hundreds of thousands of electronic
communications were intercepted. To this date, there have been no
professional or Olympic athletes who were arrested as a result of
this sting operation. The full scope of the operation was huge, and
there is no state in the country that was not impacted at least on
some level by this Steroid bust.
Seizures
related to Operation Raw Deal
The amount
of illegal supplements confiscated will astound you. By the end of
the operation, over eleven million individual doses of Anabolic
Steroids were seized. This only accounts for finished products. In
addition to that, 242 kilograms of raw anabolic Steroid ingredients
were seized as well. A significant amount of money was confiscated,
totaling $6.5 million dollars believed to be directly associated with
the sale of illegal supplements. Finally, 27 pill presses, 3 boats,
25 vehicles, and 71 weapons were seized. During the final wave of
arrests directly involved in Operation Raw Deal, 61 warrants were
served and fifty arrests were made.
Illegal
Steroids Sold via Internet Message Boards
One of the
primary means by which law enforcement officials located their
suspects was via internet message boards which focused on the use of
Steroids and other illegal hormone supplements. This is one of the
main reasons why individuals that are genuinely interested in
hormones as a treatment option for hormonal deficiency are urged to
order from reputable dealers. Any purchase you make from a web forum
or other unlicensed practitioner could come at a large cost. If
arrested, simple possession of Steroids without a prescription
carries a $1,000 fine, and the penalties for drug trafficking (i.e.
carrying more than would be necessary for personal use) are even
steeper.
Illegal
Steroids on Facebook and other Websites
Certain
Steroid websites are just intended for debate and discussion about
Steroids and Steroid use among members who may or may not be using
Steroids legally. This ground level strategy for rounding up business
has even moved on to more modern forms of social networking such as
Myspace and Facebook, and arrests have been made via these sites as
well.
Many
people on these websites sell anabolic Steroids or other hormones.
It's never a good idea to try to buy Steroids or HGH online. It is
very easy for a forum member to be an undercover cop looking to make
a quick and easy drug bust. There are other websites that are fronts
for drug labs that push black market Steroids and hormones.
The FDA
and Operation Raw Deal
The Food
and Drug Administration fully supports the actions of the Drug
Enforcement Agency. FDA officials are incredibly concerned by the
prolific distribution of hormone supplements for performance
enhancing reasons. They give full and overwhelming approval to the
DEA's desire to root out and arrest illegal Steroid and HGH
manufacturers and distributors. They consider these individuals
criminals that seek to take advantage of both willing and unwitting
customers.
Law
enforcement officials recognize that many of these groups prey on an
audience of teenagers and young adults who don't recognize the
ultimate possibility of danger that these unregulated supplements are
laced with. These distributors and manufacturers are not naive,
however. They recognize the risks that their buyers take when they
purchase these illicit products and simply don't care. They are just
in it for the bang of the buck, and there is a ton of money up for
grabs in this market.
Although
the buyers of these illicit hormone supplements may not be aware of
the risks involved, one thing is certainly true. These individuals
are looking for an unfair advantage over those around them and are
willing to go to extreme lengths to obtain that advantage.
United
States Postal Service Approves Operation Raw Deal
Multiple
American government agencies were involved in Operation Raw Deal,
although the DEA was the primary actor in the operation. The United
States Postal Service played an active role in the investigation.
They were concerned because any illegal use of the Postal Service is
an affront to mail carriers across the United States that puts them
at risk and puts them in a position where they are unknowingly
putting others at risk.
The
integrity of the mail system is of the utmost important to USPS
officials, and to turn a blind eye to potentially illegal actions
perpetrated through the mail service could lead to wide scale
outbreaks of postal abuse. The vast records of the USPS were
incredibly important to the investigation, because it allowed DEA
agents to trace products from buyer to seller, helping them connect
the dots of the distribution network.
IRS and
Illegal Steroids
IRS
officials played a significant role in Operation Raw Deal as well.
Where the USPS tracked the packages, the IRS helped the DEA by
tracking the money as it passed from buyer to seller. The actions of
the Internal Revenue Service were vital in tracking down the
perpetrators and bringing them to justice.
How
Does Law Enforcement Bust Illegal Steroids?
In
totality, Operation Raw Deal followed a four-pronged approach in
order to accomplish its goals. DEA officials targeted four primary
groups. The first group that they targeted was suppliers and
distributors of Steroid and Steroid ingredients originating from
Chinese laboratories. These groups marketed and sold illegal hormone
ingredients to individuals and companies in the United States,
Canada, and Mexico.
The second
group targeted was domestic United States black market Steroid Labs.
These companies and individuals took the ingredients they received
from Chinese manufacturers and converted them into a usable product.
The third
group that DEA agents targeted were companies in the United States
that sold Steroid manufacturing kits or distributed information to
dealers on how to take the Steroid ingredients and convert them into
a usable product.
The final
group targeted was Internet message boards which were a nesting
ground for all sorts of individuals related to the black market
manufacture, sale, and distribution of illicit hormone supplements.
These internet forums are websites where individuals trade
information about Steroids and supplements and regularly make
backroom deals with one another to sell and distribute illicit
hormones.
These
communities are filled with like-minded individuals who share a
common love for anabolic Steroids, and to undercover agents, this
offered countless opportunities to attain fresh leads. Many of the
black market HGH laboratories responsible for the distribution of
these illicit hormone supplements advertised on these forums and
message boards as well.
How
Steroid Forums Push HGH and Steroids
Through
Operation Raw Deal, the extent to which international distributors of
raw Steroid ingredients interacted with their clients was made
apparent. They used these forums as a teaching tool. They worked with
fledgling domestic operators, coaching them with hints and tips about
how to optimize their drug manufacture.
Via these
websites, ingredient distributors and amateur drug manufacturers used
state of the art encrypting technologies in attempts to make their
sales completely anonymous. One major mistake that these websites
made was that they believed that they were out of the sight of law
enforcement officials. They expressed great hubris when discussing
these officials, believing themselves to be impervious to
infiltration.
Resourceful
government agents proved their confident notions unfounded, however.
It was also found that illicit drug distributors also used forums
such as these as a means to market and sell other dangerous and
illicit drugs, such as GHB, Pseudoephedrine, Fentanyl, and Ketamine.
Operation
Meat Grinder
The
original operation began as a result of a 2005 sting operation which
found that 8 Mexican drug manufacturers were responsible for the
distribution of about eighty percent of the Black Market Anabolic
Steroids sold in the United States. In addition to these 8 Mexican
laboratories, many Chinese pharmaceutical factories were also
discovered to be pumping raw ingredients to Mexico by sea and by air.
The bust
of these Mexican Steroid laboratories by United States law
enforcement officials was dubbed Operation Meat Grinder. The goal of
Operation Meant Grinder was to shut down every Black Market Anabolic
Steroid Drug Manufacturing Laboratory in Mexico. It was widely
believed that if they accomplished this goal, it would put a major
dent in the distributed supply of Black Market Anabolic Steroids
entering the United States on a daily basis.
The
Steroids sold by these Mexican companies for the most part were
Animal Steroids which were intended for livestock use. The two main
counts in which the United States arrested individuals affiliated
with this drug trafficking ring was with counts of conspiracy to
launder money obtained by illicit acts and conspiracy to distribute
anabolic Steroids.
Dr.
Alberto Saltiel-Cohen: Veterinary Steroid Kingpin
In
Operation Meat Grinder, Drug Enforcement Agency officials started a
website named bio-power-meds.com, pretending to be a link between
Mexican Drug manufacturers and American drug buyers. This website
netted numerous leads both with Illicit Steroid Buyers and Sellers on
both sides of the border. The two websites which produced the most
significant leads were two sites mexicanSteroidsales.com and
anabolicsclub.com.
With some
investigation, officers discovered that a veterinarian named Alberto
Saltiel-Cohen was responsible for the distribution of Anabolic
Steroids sold on these two websites. The companies through which he
manufactured and distributed Anabolic Steroids were known as Quality
Vet, Denkall, and Animal Power. Undercover DEA agents negotiated
sales and ordered them to be sent to a post office box. Through this
arrangement, DEA officials were able to track or seize some 360,000
doses of illegal Steroids. Drug Enforcement Agents tracked these
individual transactions in order to gain information needed to make
arrests.
Drug
Enforcement Agents used smart phones to email their suspects back and
forth and arrange sales. Officers quickly discovered that these
individuals were not who you would stereotypically imagine to be
illegal drug dealers. They were high-end professionals and spoke like
businessmen rather than street thugs. This was a very organized
industry. Eventually, Drug Enforcement Agents were able to make
contact with Saltiel-Cohen himself, and were able to locate him and
arrest him.
The
Mexican Media dubbed him the Narco Vet as a result of his arrest and
conviction, and due to this major bust, the flow of Mexican Anabolic
Steroids into the United States was in large part shut down. Drug
officials found that most of the websites that were selling illegal
Steroids to users in the United States either stopped production
altogether or greatly scaled back their distribution.
Steroid
buyers felt the pinch as well, as prices for Illegal Testosterone
skyrocketed and users found it far more difficult to acquire. DEA
officials had a list of more than two thousands names of buyers and
distributors of Black Market Testosterone directly resulting from
this investigation.
The
Implications of Operation Meat Grinder
Even
though Operation Meat Grinder was found to be a great success by
American Law Enforcement Officials, it does seem to have created a
power vacuum that other drug sellers in Mexico are beginning to fill,
and the drug trade slowly began to increase again in the years after
Operation Meat Grinder. One major issue is that Black Market Steroid
Manufacturers started to become more prevalent within the United
States and among Southeast Asian countries, in addition to the
Mexican Drug manufacturers which were beginning to reincorporate.
Another
major issue that resulted from this landmark bust was that the
Steroids and Steroid Ingredients that were entering Mexico and the
United States were much more likely to be poor quality than they once
were, and one of the biggest arguments by American representatives
who believe in Steroid Legalization is that the further Black Market
Anabolic Steroids are driven underground, the more dangers and issues
will prevail on the quality control side of things. The Steroids
being sold will become more likely to be tainted and dangerous than
they once were.
Back to
Operation Raw Deal
Operation
Raw Deal is clearly a Drug Enforcement Operation that grew out of the
intel acquired through Operation Meat Grinder. With the proliferation
of illegal drug manufacturers in America, it was becoming more and
more important to learn more about where exactly these raw
ingredients were coming from. Drug enforcement officials from across
the globe participated in Operation Raw Deal.
The
highest levels of cooperation were from officials in Thailand,
Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and Mexico. Agents in these countries
created false companies in order to obtain Raw Steroid Ingredients.
In addition to that, international agents sought information and
products from companies that sold Steroid manufacturing kits as well.
These Steroid manufacturing kits are the tools which can turn a
simple drug trafficker into an illegal drug producer.
DEA
Officials recognized one thing quickly: In the International Anabolic
Steroid Trade, unlike in Operation Meat Grinder, there was no
Anabolic Drug ring leader. To fight the international distribution of
Illegal Steroids, Drug enforcement officials had to attack on all
fronts. All of the black market manufacturers were interconnected,
but there was no singular entity that had complete control over the
international enterprise.
Kitchen
Sink Testosterone Supplements
One of the
raids made in Operation Raw Deal was in Westbury New York. Drug
Enforcement Officials made a raid on the residence of a thirty-eight
year old man who they had reason to believe was taking part in the
sale and distribution of Illegal Anabolic Steroids. In his garage,
they found more than eight hundred thousand Steroid pills. His
suburban home had also been recently renovated, filled with expensive
brand new televisions in every room. The Anabolic Steroid trade was
obviously incredibly lucrative.
A black
market laboratory in the Midwest was inundated with such a large
amount of Steroid residue that a DEA operative explained that the
powder left footprints on the floor as they entered the house. The
potential dangers involved in purchasing Black Market Anabolic
Steroids should be obvious. There is no measure of quality control
and American Black Market Steroid Makers are literally working out of
their garages and basements. Imagine the conditions that illegal
foreign manufacturers are working under if this is what's going on in
our own borders.
One of the
major problems in the modern Black Market Steroid Industry is that
there are a lot of oblivious teenagers and even young adults who go
on the internet and see the deals offered by these counterfeit drug
distributors and think that they are getting an out of this world
deal when they are actually getting a faulty product. A lot of times
these Homemade Steroid Solutions and Pills are made in people's bath
tubs and sinks. There's no way to ensure that the product received is
safe or even actually Steroids.
Perhaps
the most tragic story in Operation Raw deal also occurred in New
York. One of the suspects who was raided and served a warrant for
money laundering and conspiracy committed suicide before trial. Drug
Enforcement Officials say that this man had more Anabolic Steroid
Ingredients on hand than any but one other person who was arrested.
Even though this man's death is sad and unfortunate, it serves to
show the incredibly high consequences of the Illegal Steroid Trade.
Executive
Level Drug Trafficking
In Rhode
Island, a Chinese company and its CEO were indicted for illegally
importing Human Growth Hormone Supplements into the United States.
Even though China is sometimes wary of working openly with the United
States on criminal stings and prosecutions, they readily stepped up
to assist Drug Enforcement Agency officials.
The
Chinese company Genescience Pharmaceutical and its presiding
executive officer, Lei Jin, were indicted for the conspiracy to
import and sell smuggled goods and money laundering. The drugs
distributed by Genescience were of the Chinese brand Jinotropin.
Jinotropin is a Chinese form of Bio-Identical Human Growth Hormone.
The company used both email and the Internet to distribute their
wares.
It should
be noted that Jinotropin and Genotropin are two distinct brands.
Jinotropin is not approved for sale in the United States and is not
proven safe for use by United States Officials. Genotropin is owned
and distributed by the reputable American pharmaceutical company
Pfizer. It has been proven to be of the utmost quality and has been
proven effective for treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.
Chinese
Government and Illegal Anabolic Steroid Distribution
As the
2008 Olympics approached, the International Olympic Committee was
incredibly concerned about the prevalence of Performance Enhancing
Drugs and their use in China. It has already been shown that there is
a lack of stability among Chinese food and drug administrators, and
it is unclear how much control the Chinese have over their own
pharmaceutical industry.
In the
early 2000's, scandal broke within the Chinese food and drug
regulatory commission. The problems were so widespread and severe
that the administration's top executive was executed for his role in
the misdeeds. It is estimated by the World Anti-Doping Administration
that China is responsible for as much as eighty percent of the Black
Market HGH available in the world today. Their stake in the market is
$480 million dollars across the world. The market of the entire globe
is only $600 million.
Although
China appeared to be forthcoming with information regarding the
lucrative Black Market Hormone Industry in their country, it is
unclear the extent to which the country is dedicated to the actual
task of cleaning up their criminal mess. Chinese officials presented
DEA Agents data on ten Black Market Laboratories operating within
their borders. In the years following Operation Raw Deal, only one of
those ten labs were put out of business.
The
Chinese government has put forth many proposals for reform, from
reducing export quotas to constrict the international distribution of
Human Growth Hormone and Steroids, to banning the sale of Anabolic
Steroids to pharmacies in the Beijing region. In spite of that, it is
clear that Chinese officials are dragging their heels in their
efforts to crack down on illegal hormone supplements within their
country. Drug Enforcement Agency officials are still somewhat
optimistic and feel that changes will begin to take root in time.
Illegal
Steroids: Cheap, yet Dangerous
The Drug
Enforcement Agency is incredibly fervent in their desire to stop the
incoming flood of Chinese Steroids and Human Growth Hormone imported
into the United States every day. These illicit pharmaceuticals are
not approved for sale in any way, shape, or form in the United
States. There is an incredible amount of interest in these Black
Market Hormones because they sell for around one third of the cost of
Food and Drug Administration approved brands of these drugs.
The
process of ensuring the safety and effectiveness of FDA-Approved
Hormone Therapies is necessary to ensure that all legal users of
these products are getting what they pay for without putting
themselves at an unknown or unnecessary risk.
Outside
Operation Raw Deal
In another
Human Growth Hormone Probe stemming from Albany, New York, a number
of pharmacists and doctors have been accused of filling out bogus HGH
prescriptions for patients who showed no medical need for the
hormone. The name of the pharmacy that spearheaded this illicit
operation is named Signature of Orlando. This prescription drug bust
revealed a number of American professional athletic figures that were
using Human Growth Hormone for Performance Enhancing Purposes.
New
England Patriot Rodney Harrison and Saint Louis Cardinal Richard
Ankiel were among those figures implicated by this bust. Both have
come clean with the media and admitted that they obtained
Prescription Human Growth Hormone from this network. It should be
noted that Richard Ankiel believes that his HGH Prescription was
written to treat a legitimate medical condition. He used Human Growth
Hormone Therapy as a means to treat a 2004 elbow surgery.
It's
Not Over Yet
It should
be noted that law enforcement officials will continue to use
information gathered as a result of Operation Raw Deal as a means to
trace, monitor, and apprehend those associated with the Illicit
Hormone Distribution chain. Operation Raw Deal and Operation Meat
Grinder focused primarily on notorious distributors rather than small
time criminals and end users. There are real and serious risks when
using or ordering Black Market Steroids, Human Growth hormone, or any
other supplement not approved for use in the United States.
Only use
Hormone Supplements with a prescription, and only make purchases from
reputable dealers. As we age, the need for Human Growth Hormone and
Testosterone is a real need. Although Hormone Supplementation for
Performance Enhancement is very illegal in the United States, using
Bio-identical Hormones as a means to rectify a legitimate Hormone
Deficiency is perfectly legal and for a large swath of Americans is
even recommended.
Extra
Details Regarding Individual Cases
California
- Southern District
The San
Diego Federal Grand Jury implicated fourteen individuals through
seven separate indictments.
Charges:
Conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to distribute anabolic
Steroids, conspiracy to import anabolic Steroids. Also, money, goods,
and contraband were seized. The following individuals are believed to
have bought raw Steroid ingredients from foreign distributors in
China and elsewhere in order to constitute illegal Steroid
supplements for sale within the United States:
Defendants:
John
Russo, Robert Souders, Jeffrey Mitchell, Charles Lupico, Israel
Sanchez, Natasha Bensulong, Joshua Phillips, Otis Armour, Michael
Guthrie, Timothy Smith, Felix Parache, Adam Hullander, Ray Ross, and
Goran Crnila
New
York - Southern District
A Federal
Grand Jury representing Southern New York implicated five people with
the conspiracy to distribute anabolic Steroids. Three of these five
individuals were also accused of money laundering. This quintet of
defendants is believed to have owned and operated two facilities
which they used to market and sell Black Market Anabolic Steroids.
These two
companies were called Strong Island Underground and Bodiez by Design.
The group also is believed to have utilized the Internet as a means
to sell and distribute their illegal wares. They utilized the United
States Postal Service to distribute their Steroids and also attempted
to use highly secure means of payment in an attempt to make the pay
transaction anonymous.
A raid of
Strong Island Underground netted an astounding 1.1 million doses of
Anabolic Steroids in addition to other drugs used in conjunction with
those Steroids. The Illegal Supplements were in both pill and liquid
form. A large number of pieces of Steroid paraphernalia were also
confiscated.
A short
time after these original warrants were served, another four
individuals were arrested in conjunction with this case, also with
warrants undersigned by a judge of the court district of Southern New
York. Two of these four individuals are accused of conspiracy to
distribute Anabolic Steroids. The first individual was indicted for
attempting to sell Powdered Testosterone via the Internet. The second
individual was arrested for buying Steroid Supplements from China in
order to distribute them within the United States.
The third
member of this group was indicted for abetting the other individuals.
He utilized a rented storage unit to allow the other two individuals
to have a place to stash their drug manufacturing equipment when not
in use. A fourth person was arrested on three different counts: using
the United Postal Service to distribute illegal merchandise, selling
drug paraphernalia, and providing equipment used for the manufacture
of anabolic Steroids. The fourth defendant was the owner and operator
of a facility known as Titan Medical Supply. This company was a front
operation which the defendant used to sell drug paraphernalia and
drug-making equipment to willing buyers.
Central
District of Pennsylvania
As a
result of Operation Raw Deal, a Pennsylvania Federal Grand Jury
released an indictment which charged three people with the conspiracy
to possess and distribute anabolic Steroids. The trio worked together
on their mission to distribute illegal Steroids over the course of
two years from 2005 to 2007. Each of the three face five years of
prison and $250,000 in fines if they are found guilty.
At a later
date, a United States Attorney representing this same district
accused five other people of crimes related to the sale and
distribution of illicit drugs. Thee of the five were accused of the
conspiracy to possess and distribute Schedule III Ketamine. A fourth
person was implicated with the conspiracy to possess and distribute
Anabolic Steroids.
Each of
these four individuals are on the hook for a five year prison
sentence and $250,000 in fines in found guilty. A fifth individual
was arrested for intent to distribute cocaine. This individual could
go to prison for up to twenty years and face a million dollar fine.
Rhode
Island Judicial District
The Rhode
Island Federal Grand Jury has implicated the pharmaceutical company
Genescience, its Chief Executive Officer Jei Jin, and 3 more
individuals with maintaining an international drug smuggling
operation through which millions in HGH Supplements were illegally
imported into the U.S.A. and various other countries.
The drug
smugglers used semi-anonymous email addressed and utilized several
websites as a means to distribute the illegal supplements. The United
States government has seized around $3.6 million dollars from Chinese
bands located in New York directly stemming from this case.
Maryland
Judicial District
As a
result of Operation Raw Deal, Bradley Blum was indicted in Baltimore
for conspiring to illegally sell Black Market HGH. He was also
indicted for actually selling the hormone as well. He purchased the
Human Growth Hormone from a Chinese distributor and sold it to
individuals across the country, including at least one individual in
Maryland.
Federal
investigators have discovered more than $800,000 in proceeds and
property that can be directly traced to the scheme of unlawful
distribution. In connection with this case, Allentown, Pennsylvania,
resident Anthony Schuler was indicted on the conspiracy to distribute
HGH as well as an outright attempt to distribute the drug. He also
received his stock from a Chinese manufacturer.
Judicial
District of Western Missouri
Four
persons have been arrested in connection with the distribution of
Illicit Anabolic Steroids in the Judicial District of Western
Missouri. Wife and husband April and Bryan Wilson were charged with
both the distribution of Steroids and the intent to distribute
Steroids. The charges allege that the husband and wife team arranged
with Chinese drug manufacturers to Purchase Anabolic Steroid
Ingredients, which they would constitute and sell to willing buyers
across the United States.
In
exchange for these Illegal Anabolic Steroid Ingredients, they wired
money directly to their Chinese co-conspirators. In Jackson and Boone
County, Missouri, Mr. Wilson created liquid and pill forms of
Steroids from the ingredients he received. The couple operated under
the company titles Palmco, Pro Pharm Labs, and Pro Pharm.
Two
separate individuals were also arrested in this district as a direct
result of Operation Raw Deal. Jason Varner and Mikal Schrage were
both individually indicted for the intent to sell anabolic Steroids.
Schrage is believed to have attempted to traffic five pounds of
Steroid Powder and ten liters of Liquid Steroids from Florida to
Missouri. On the way, home he was intercepted and arrested by law
enforcement. Mr. Varner attempted to buy 188 Steroid Vials in
Columbia Missouri. When law enforcement officials searched the man's
home they confiscated another 44 vials of the drug.
Connecticut
Judicial District
In a legal
action related to Operation Raw Deal, the Fraud Unit of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation conducted an operation known as Operation
Phony Pharm. This undercover operation focused on the illegal
distribution of Human Growth Hormone, Anabolic Steroids, and
Prescription Pain Meds via the Internet. Operation Raw Deal and
Operation Phony Pharm began as independent enterprises, but the two
forces have shared information and worked on many aspects of their
individual cases together as their leads became intertwined.
The
primary difference between the two operations is that Phony Pharm
focused on domestic distributors of Human Growth Hormone and Anabolic
Steroids, whereas Operation Raw Deal was primary concerned with the
Illegal Importation of Chinese Anabolic Steroids and Anabolic Steroid
Ingredients.
In this
particular case, four individuals were implicated for conspiring to
distribute and sell Anabolic Steroids. It is believed that the
individuals bought Raw Steroid Ingredients from a Chinese company and
converted the raw ingredients into Injectable and Oral Steroids in a
home laboratory. After creating these Phony Anabolic Steroids, they
were distributed to various buyers via both the social networking
site Myspace.com and the website anabolic-superstore.com.
Also in
relation to this investigation, one individual from the state of
Florida plead guilty to Steroid distribution. The man admitted to
prosecutors that he had utilized his Myspace.com profile to Sell
Steroids to individuals who messaged him on the site. He also told
prosecutors that he bought two kilograms of Raw Steroid Ingredients
from a Chinese supplier as well.
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