How an Aberdeen garage became key stop in global steroid pipeline
Below are a few paragraphs from the article.
Shortly before sunrise Sept. 20, Drug Enforcement Administration agents from Seattle, accompanied by Aberdeen police and Grays Harbor County deputies, cordoned off surrounding streets, served arrest and search warrants on homeowners Ray and Lesley Ross and exposed their year-old garage for what investigators insist it really was -- an underground lab that turned Chinese ingredients into an American desire.
Eight miles away in Montesano, two of Ross' friends, Josh Springer, 25, and Jeff Thompson, 30, were pulled out of bed and arrested in simultaneous early-morning raids. Allegedly in possession of steroids and found to be destroying evidence, respectively, they were labeled as associates in a drug-manufacturing operation with direct ties to Las Vegas, Thailand and China.
These people put a Northwest face on Operation Raw Deal, a federal sting that swept the U.S. and nine other countries over four days, netting 56 labs, 124 arrests, $6.5 million in U.S. currency, 242 kilograms of raw steroid powder and 11.4 million dosage units of finished product. The latter amount was described as enough to supply 50,000 users for a year. And it's not over: Another wave of arrests is expected soon..........................
"We swept the rats from our neighbor's barn, and we swept them into our own," said Dan Simmons, a San Diego-based DEA special agent.
In December 2005, another federal sting, Operation Gear Grinder, shut down eight Mexican labs supplying 80 percent of the illicit steroids entering the U.S., stuff that was manufactured largely from Chinese steroid powder.
A huge void for bodybuilding drugs was created. In response, underground labs were bankrolled across this country, quickly sprouting up from Aberdeen to East Rutherford, N.J.
Quality control was the biggest difference between the Mexican and American labs, and not how one might initially envision it. South of the border, the facilities actually met veterinary standards, using the latest in production equipment at fairly professional sites. In contrast, U.S. labs were amateurish and unsanitary, set up in basements, kitchens and garages....................... ......
In Seattle, authorities have successfully prosecuted just one steroid case in recent years, in 2005, convicting Franklin Witter of Marysville of steroid trafficking. He's serving a three-year prison term in Oregon.
But they are working on another. In July, authorities arrested Dr. Howard Levine on charges that he illegally sold steroids from his Capitol Hill office. Workout enthusiasts say trade in the illegal pills has boomed in certain gyms, particularly those popular within the gay community.
"I would say it's somewhat prevalent among the gym crowd, getting their ideal of the perfect body," said Tom Swanton. "I've seen a handful of people where it's obvious. You put two and two together -- the acne, the results they get -- and it's commented on. People know."
Me again: The whole article is less than a ten minute read, but my comments pick up much of the new information. The background info on steroids I am not too sure about. It sounds just a little more alarmists that experts on this site have thought. Hope someone who knows will evaluate that.
world wide steroid raid centers in Aberdeen WA
pretty sad. Soon enough youll have to phone someone before you take a piss at this rate. What a waste of taxpayer money. Their 'technology' is nothing short of making email providers give their private information out. Trust me, nobody hacked the encrypted email services that are out there. Keyloggers? possibly.
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