Two rackets dealing in dangerous steroids dismantled
Greek Police (ELAS) investigators have dismantled two rackets dealing in banned performance enhancing drugs, mainly in bodybuilding circles.
At the center of the case are two unnamed individuals who are said to be prominent figures in that sport and a 40-year-old man suspected of running a lab that produced the drugs as well as antidotes to deal with adverse side-effects. The businessman, who is said to have been the leader of one of the two rackets, also allegedly ran a small printing workshop in Athens that produced labels so that the drugs appeared legitimate.
A total of nine people, aged from 24 to 57 years old, have been arrested so far in the regions of Attica and neighboring Viotia, and thousands of pills and other evidence have been confiscated.
The first of the two rackets was allegedly responsible for importing the materials used to make the dangerous drugs from China, Bulgaria and Austria, producing the steroids in the 40-year-old's lab and then selling them to other rackets or athletes in Greece and abroad, mainly Cyprus and Germany.
The second racket was mostly active online and was run by a 33-year-old who lives abroad and is being sought by authorities.
Together the two gangs are suspected of having generated profits in excess of 300,000 euros from their illegal activities.
