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Illicit steroids still going strong: police

Illicit steroids still going strong: police Mar. 11 2007 The shadow world of steroids is still going strong, with the Internet providing the link between buyer and seller, say the authorities. Look in any gym where someone has packed on five to 10 kilograms of muscle in a matter of weeks, and steroids are likely behind it, Terry Keys, a Halifax fitness club manager, told CTV News. "The sad part of it is a lot of what you'd call buyers are just high school kids looking for vanity purposes," he said. Still, "people don't come in and brag about it. It's kept pretty quiet," another man said. Supply is coming in part from people who are making it. In Nova Scotia, the authorities recently raided a home in a small town where they seized nearly $500,000 worth of steroids. The arrested man was making steroids part-time and selling his wares on the Internet. "We knew he was importing it. We knew he was selling it. We had no idea he was making it in his house," said Blair MacDonald of Canadian Border Services. Police say the man learned how to make anabolic steroids by surfing the Web and then importing raw materials from China. He then sold his concoctions to hundreds of clients through chatrooms. "Everything was done through the Internet, so that's why we have customers from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and some from the United States too," said Carl Letourneau of Canadian Border Services. Police in Florida have also charged the owners of an online pharmacy that was allegedly selling steroids -- reportedly to pro athletes and celebrities. Although a steroids scandal in baseball two years ago prompted calls for a crackdown, some say it's just as bad as ever. "Just recently we were on the Internet and we found a website based in a small town in Manitoba outside of Winnipeg and they were selling anabolic steroids. Of course we notified the RCMP," said Joseph de Pencier of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. Police in New Brunswick also recently seized a stash of steroids, but some fear the busts can only do so much. "You shut down one and there will be another one come up because the profit margin is so high," said Keys.