Federal officials in San Diego unsealed indictments Monday charging 14 people in connection with what they say is the largest international steroid trafficking investigation in U.S. history. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
Federal officials raided more than four dozen labs and arrested more than 120 people across the country in the two-year long investigation.
The operation began by targeting 30 Chinese companies that shipped raw materials used to make anabolic steroids to labs in the U.S. and nine other countries.
U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt says an investigation that shut down major steroid manufacturers in Mexico two years ago created a vacuum in the market.
Hewitt : When Mexican sources of steroids were largely no longer available to American purchasers, illegal distribution networks turned to other foreign sources for raw steroid powder. The raw steroid powder was ordered on the internet and shipped to underground labs in the United States.
Federal officials say makeshift labs then concocted the steroid doses and sold them online.
Federal officials say they've identified thousands of customers but would not say who they are.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
