8 Mexican Firms, 23 People Are Indicted Over Sales of Illegal Steroids

Federal prosecutors Thursday unsealed the indictments of eight Mexican companies and 23 people suspected of selling more than 80% of the illegal anabolic steroids used in the U.S.

The anabolic steroids, which are illegal in the U.S. but legal in Mexico, were sold at border pharmacies and over the Internet, prosecutors said.

Five of the 23 suspects were arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration agents and are in jail, four in San Diego, one in Laredo, Texas. The U.S. attorney’s office is working with Mexican authorities to arrest and extradite the others.

“The tragedy of so-called performance-enhancing drugs is that they unfairly exploit the hopes and dreams of young athletes,” said Kenneth J. Hines, the lead Internal Revenue Service agent in the two-year investigation.

The names of more than 2,000 buyers were discovered, but none has been charged, officials said at a news conference.

The indicted companies are Quality Vet, Denkall, Animal Power, Laboratorios Brovel, Laboratorios Tornel, Loeffler, Syd Group and Pets Pharma.

Prosecutors are seeking to seize more than $15 million that they assert is the profit the companies raked in during the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attys. Timothy Coughlin and Laura Duffy, lead prosecutors on the case, said websites attempted to entice bodybuilders and athletes into buying the steroids. For one price, the steroids would be sent by mail; for a higher price, the steroids would be routed through a distributor, lessening the chances of detection by U.S. authorities.

“This is the poison that’s on the Internet available to anybody who turns their computer on,” Coughlin said.

Anabolic steroids were banned in the U.S. in 1991. But several studies have shown that their use has continued, particularly among college-age athletes.

Though steroids are legal for use by veterinarians in treating animals, the doses advertised by the websites are clearly for humans, investigators said.

The father of a Texas teenager who killed himself after taking steroids attended the news conference and hailed the indictments as a major step toward stopping steroid sale and use.

“I hope this sends a message to every locker room and gym in America: Steroids are illegal,” said Donald Hooton.

Hooton’s 17-year-old son had taken steroids to help his baseball career but became depressed and experienced severe mood swings, a common side effect. Hooton has started the Taylor Hooton Foundation to raise awareness of the dangers of steroids.