CONEJO VALLEY : 2 Arrested in Steroid Smuggling Case

Two Conejo Valley men were arrested Thursday in Westlake Village on suspicion of selling steroids after deputies found $10,000 worth of the muscle-building drugs in the trunk of their car, authorities said.

David Caramanis, 20, of Westlake and Todd Bisacchi, 19, of Newbury Park were stopped by sheriff’s narcotics officers as they returned from Mexico with a shipment of the controlled drugs, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Pentis.

Officers found 42 syringes packed with steroids, more than 300 tablets of steroids and 12 bottles of liquid steroid in the trunk of their car, Pentis said.

The amount of steroids seized made the arrest the second largest steroid case ever in the Conejo Valley, Pentis said. Larry Woods of Thousand Oaks was recently convicted on federal drug charges in connection with a seizure of steroids last year, Pentis said.

The arrests concluded a four-week investigation, during which detectives observed Caramanis selling steroids at the Red Onion Restaurant in Thousand Oaks, where he was a guard, Pentis said. He described Caramanis as the “primary player” in the drug sale operation.

Greggory Caramanis, 22, was arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine, after a small amount of the illicit drug was found in his room during a search of the residence he shared with his younger brother, Pentis said. Greggory Caramanis is not a suspect in the sale of steroids, he said.

Also recovered from the Bowsprit Circle residence the brothers shared was a list of “pay and owe sheets” listing about 20 area residents who purchased steroids from Caramanis, Pentis said.

After their arrests, the three men were released on $20,000 bail and are scheduled to be arraigned May 21, a court official said.