Largest DEA Steroid Bust in History

DEA today announced the arrests of individuals involved with eight “major steroid manufacturing companies” as part of what DEA claims is “the largest steroid enforcement operation in U.S. history.” “Operation Gear Grinder” is described by DEA as a 21-month task force investigation that targeted Mexican veterinary steroid manufacturers whose products are claimed to have been illegally sold to U.S. consumers via the Internet. The arrests took place in San Diego, CA, and Laredo, TX. The companies named by DEA: Quality Vet, Denkall, Animal Power, Laboratorios Tornel, Laboratorios Brovel, Pet’s Pharma, Syd Group, and Loeffler. USA Today quoted DEA special agent Doug Coleman: “Because this is the biggest one we’ve ever done, we went after the manufacturers as well as the distributors, all the way down to the retail buyers – we’re hoping it’s going to have a significant impact on the market.” The DEA press release also announced that DEA had “identified over 2,000 U.S. customers that have received steroids from the businesses indicted today.” Read the DEA press release here…. According to USA Today, DEA has begun locating these customers, many of whom used fake names and had packages sent to addresses other than their own. “We have agents all over the country trying to track down who all these people are,” Coleman said. DEA will attempt to track these buyers through shipping records and email addresses. “If they’ve received packages through the mail we can absolutely charge them with a violation of federal law,” Coleman said. Read the USA Today article here…