Black market for HGH likely crippled
By HAL HABIB
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Operation Raw Deal, this week's sweeping action against illegal performance-enhancing drugs, didn't result in the outing of big-name athletes.
But the massive case could have a wide-ranging impact on the international steroid and human growth hormone market, from the teenager quietly purchasing the drugs on his PC to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. At the same time, it provides a look into what had been a burgeoning black market that at its worst involves distributors mixing injectable drugs in their bathtubs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration labeled the operation the largest steroid enforcement action in American history: 124 arrests, 56 steroid labs raided and 11.4 million steroid dosage units seized in the United States. The probe included cooperation of nine countries, most significantly China, not only because of its Olympic host role but also as the worldwide leader of raw materials for steroids and HGH, investigators say.
"This case is much more far-reaching than what we've seen out of Albany thus far," DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said, referring to Operation Which Doctor, the drug crackdown based in Albany, N.Y., that included a February raid of the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, an anti-aging clinic in Jupiter.
Unlike Operation Which Doctor, no one from Palm Beach has been arrested in Operation Raw Deal. But one local anti-aging clinic owner said the impact will be felt everywhere and estimated 90 percent of the underground HGH market was eliminated.
"This will totally destroy the black market for growth hormones," said the owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This is huge. I even think this is bigger than they know."
Operation Which Doctor has implicated pro athletes, including outfielder Rick Ankiel of Port St. Lucie High and the St. Louis Cardinals and safety Rodney Harrison of the New England Patriots. Investigators said Operation Raw Deal uncovered thousands of names of customers, but it's too early to tell if pro athletes are among them or say if their respective leagues will even be notified if names do turn up.
"It's going to be a big disappointment if people are looking for names," the clinic operator said, adding that pro athletes have the resources to buy performance-enhancers through doctors or clinics. By contrast, DEA administrator Karen P. Tandy described the black market as "dangerous drugs cooked up all too often in filthy conditions with no regard to safety, giving Americans who purchase them the ultimate raw deal."
The clinic owner said high school athletes on performance-enhancers are more likely to feel the impact because they're drawn to Internet-based operations offering cut-rate prices and no proof-of-age requirement. The clinic owner said he inquired about purchasing 2,000 IUs of hormones over the Internet to understand why his clinic was losing business to the black market, which offered a month's supply of hormones (about 40 IUs) for $100 as opposed to $320.
"All they really have is your e-mail address, because they don't take credit cards or anything," the owner said. "They were going to charge me $5,000 and all I had to do is Western Union them the money and they would ship it from China and I would have it in a week. At no point did they have to have my name."
Investigators uncovered operations in Deltona, Fla., and Hartford, Conn., involving distribution of drugs via MySpace.com, a popular site among teens.
Even Rick Collins, a Long Island defense attorney who reportedly advised Palm Beach Rejuvenation on legal loopholes of drug sales, warned of the link between teens and the black market last year in a paper titled Pumped.
"In a black market riddled with foreign veterinary steroids of questionable content, teens are more likely to be scammed by shady dealers with potentially dangerous products," Collins wrote.
Travis T. Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, cautioned against generalizing about black market and clinical customers of illegal drugs. The DEA's Payne agreed, saying the underground included "high-end users and customers" who sometimes don't even realize their drugs have roots in the black market.
Tygart wouldn't speculate on whether pro athletes are involved but said there are ways to match Internet users with names and faces.
"You feel like it's encrypted through these hush-mail type accounts," Tygart said. "And you think it's anonymous, being on the Internet. What we've seen - generally, not in this investigation - is people that are doing it through the Internet feel like they're anonymized sufficiently that they don't take the extra steps (to conceal their identity).''
The case already has produced one surprise - cooperation from China, which allowed the DEA to set up offices in the country.
"We don't like to tell the world that, but it's out there," Payne said. "We do have representatives in China that work with law enforcement there."
Speculation had abounded that the Chinese, eager to win the medals count next summer, were dipping into a past that involved doping of swimmers and runners. But U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth has praised "the unprecedented level of cooperation," including the Chinese.
"There are people there that care about this issue, that understand the problem of huge production in China," Payne said.
Still, one source said, investigators are puzzled by England declining to cooperate, especially because the Brits will be the 2012 Summer Olympic hosts.
But first are the 2008 Games in a country key to the largest steroid crackdown in U.S. history.
"Everybody recognized the timing," Payne said. "We don't work with our heads in the sand. Olympic officials have been very interested in this and are obviously very pleased, but certainly the investigative timing - it just happened to be a year before the Olympics."
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Operation Raw Deal, this week's sweeping action against illegal performance-enhancing drugs, didn't result in the outing of big-name athletes.
But the massive case could have a wide-ranging impact on the international steroid and human growth hormone market, from the teenager quietly purchasing the drugs on his PC to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. At the same time, it provides a look into what had been a burgeoning black market that at its worst involves distributors mixing injectable drugs in their bathtubs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration labeled the operation the largest steroid enforcement action in American history: 124 arrests, 56 steroid labs raided and 11.4 million steroid dosage units seized in the United States. The probe included cooperation of nine countries, most significantly China, not only because of its Olympic host role but also as the worldwide leader of raw materials for steroids and HGH, investigators say.
"This case is much more far-reaching than what we've seen out of Albany thus far," DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said, referring to Operation Which Doctor, the drug crackdown based in Albany, N.Y., that included a February raid of the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, an anti-aging clinic in Jupiter.
Unlike Operation Which Doctor, no one from Palm Beach has been arrested in Operation Raw Deal. But one local anti-aging clinic owner said the impact will be felt everywhere and estimated 90 percent of the underground HGH market was eliminated.
"This will totally destroy the black market for growth hormones," said the owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This is huge. I even think this is bigger than they know."
Operation Which Doctor has implicated pro athletes, including outfielder Rick Ankiel of Port St. Lucie High and the St. Louis Cardinals and safety Rodney Harrison of the New England Patriots. Investigators said Operation Raw Deal uncovered thousands of names of customers, but it's too early to tell if pro athletes are among them or say if their respective leagues will even be notified if names do turn up.
"It's going to be a big disappointment if people are looking for names," the clinic operator said, adding that pro athletes have the resources to buy performance-enhancers through doctors or clinics. By contrast, DEA administrator Karen P. Tandy described the black market as "dangerous drugs cooked up all too often in filthy conditions with no regard to safety, giving Americans who purchase them the ultimate raw deal."
The clinic owner said high school athletes on performance-enhancers are more likely to feel the impact because they're drawn to Internet-based operations offering cut-rate prices and no proof-of-age requirement. The clinic owner said he inquired about purchasing 2,000 IUs of hormones over the Internet to understand why his clinic was losing business to the black market, which offered a month's supply of hormones (about 40 IUs) for $100 as opposed to $320.
"All they really have is your e-mail address, because they don't take credit cards or anything," the owner said. "They were going to charge me $5,000 and all I had to do is Western Union them the money and they would ship it from China and I would have it in a week. At no point did they have to have my name."
Investigators uncovered operations in Deltona, Fla., and Hartford, Conn., involving distribution of drugs via MySpace.com, a popular site among teens.
Even Rick Collins, a Long Island defense attorney who reportedly advised Palm Beach Rejuvenation on legal loopholes of drug sales, warned of the link between teens and the black market last year in a paper titled Pumped.
"In a black market riddled with foreign veterinary steroids of questionable content, teens are more likely to be scammed by shady dealers with potentially dangerous products," Collins wrote.
Travis T. Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, cautioned against generalizing about black market and clinical customers of illegal drugs. The DEA's Payne agreed, saying the underground included "high-end users and customers" who sometimes don't even realize their drugs have roots in the black market.
Tygart wouldn't speculate on whether pro athletes are involved but said there are ways to match Internet users with names and faces.
"You feel like it's encrypted through these hush-mail type accounts," Tygart said. "And you think it's anonymous, being on the Internet. What we've seen - generally, not in this investigation - is people that are doing it through the Internet feel like they're anonymized sufficiently that they don't take the extra steps (to conceal their identity).''
The case already has produced one surprise - cooperation from China, which allowed the DEA to set up offices in the country.
"We don't like to tell the world that, but it's out there," Payne said. "We do have representatives in China that work with law enforcement there."
Speculation had abounded that the Chinese, eager to win the medals count next summer, were dipping into a past that involved doping of swimmers and runners. But U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth has praised "the unprecedented level of cooperation," including the Chinese.
"There are people there that care about this issue, that understand the problem of huge production in China," Payne said.
Still, one source said, investigators are puzzled by England declining to cooperate, especially because the Brits will be the 2012 Summer Olympic hosts.
But first are the 2008 Games in a country key to the largest steroid crackdown in U.S. history.
"Everybody recognized the timing," Payne said. "We don't work with our heads in the sand. Olympic officials have been very interested in this and are obviously very pleased, but certainly the investigative timing - it just happened to be a year before the Olympics."
