Written by:
Joy Meyer
September 28, 2007
The recent federal crackdown on anabolic steroid distribution throughout the United States exposed an extensive black market fueled mostly by the Internet. Wilson
Federal authorities started the investigation by tracking raw steroid powder from China to the United States and then cracking down on distributors selling the steroids, mainly by communicating over the Internet and sending the drugs through the mail.
"Unless you have a prescription, they are illegal," said Michael Sanders, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Years ago, long before the Internet, people would get them from their doctors and sell whatever they did not use."
Sanders added: "Our concern as DEA agents and prosecutors is this is not something that is made or manufactured in a safe environment."
Operation Raw Deal was a 22-month DEA investigation that resulted in 124 arrests across the country. Authorities said it is the largest steroid enforcement in U.S. history.
Bryan G. Wilson, 38, of Kansas City, formerly of Columbia, and April D. Wilson, 32, of Columbia are charged in federal court for allegedly distributing anabolic steroids throughout the country. Two other Missouri residents also have been charged.
DEA agents in February identified Bryan Wilson as a possible operator of an underground lab for anabolic steroids, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
Beginning in March, a confidential source under the direction of federal agents logged onto the Web site chemicallyevolved.com and confirmed that Pro Pharm Labs, one of the names Bryan Wilson allegedly operated under, offered anabolic steroids.
The source in May sent an e-mail to a Pro Pharm address asking whether there was a minimum order. A reply said there was no minimum order and provided a product list. The e-mail also said the operation was receiving a new tab press and to send cash in a birthday card as a form of payment, according to the affidavit.
The source sent $155 in June to a Kansas City address as payment for enanthate and cypionate, two anabolic steroids, and provided a San Diego address for the steroids to be shipped.
In August, federal agents seized the package in San Diego, and lab analysis confirmed the bottles contained testosterone enanthate and testosterone cypionate, the affidavit said.
A Columbia detective helped with the federal investigation beginning in April. Sgt. Scott Young said it is the only steroid investigation he knows of for the Columbia Police Department.
"It’s the kind of thing, the people who are doing steroids are not the type of people kicking in people’s doors and shooting each other over it," he said. "It’s not a very visible market."
Sanders said customers who buy steroids over the Internet do it for different reasons.
"We’ll probably see the high school kid who’s buying them to perform better in a football game," he said. "We’ll probably see professional athletes, and we’ll see gym junkies."
William Kraemer, a kinesiology professor at the University of Connecticut, has spent 20 years studying anabolic hormones, a testosterone derivative produced in the body naturally. "It’s not adding to the natural. It’s suppressing the natural and replacing it with drug," he said.
Steroids were developed to treat patients who have developmental problems, Kraemer said. Using anabolic steroids makes a user vulnerable to about 50 side effects, Kraemer estimated, including shrinking of the testes, lowered sperm count, possible liver damage and being more susceptible to stroke or heart attack.
To avoid longtime health problems, some users engage in "stacking" or "cycling," a technique described as using steroids for a period of time and then stopping to allow their bodies to generate natural hormones.
"Steroid people think they have secrets no one else does," Kraemer said. "Not much science, but a lot of mythology."
