Biggest-Ever Steroid Sweep Nets 120
An 18-month international investigation of illicit steroid labs reportedly resulted today in the arrest of more than 120 people in the U.S., in what authorities say was the largest such investigation ever pursued.
A total of 56 laboratories in the United States were seized for allegedly manufacturing anabolic steroids and human growth hormone, and 143 federal search warrants were executed, many of them since Thursday, writes the Associated Press. The labs were part of “an extensive underground network of illegal laboratories and large-scale marketing operations via the Internet” that were targeted by authorities, according to ABC News.
Investigators say about 30 companies in China supplied the chemicals needed to manufacture the steroids, ABC reports.
News conferences are planned in at least six American cities, and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration says nine other countries, including China, also were involved in “Operation Raw Deal.” Multiple federal agencies participated in the investigation.
More than 120 arrests were made in New York, San Diego, Providence, Kansas City and Houston, according to ABC. AP says a news conference is also planned in Sacramento.
