News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2005
82 percent of all DEA-seized
and analyzed steroids in U.S. are manufactured in
Mexico; Large majority of those come from targets
in Operation Gear Grinder
WASHINGTON, DC – DEA Administrator
Karen P. Tandy today announced the arrest of Albert
Saltiel-Cohen, owner of three of the world’s largest
anabolic steroid manufacturers, as part of the
largest steroid enforcement operation in U.S. history.
Operation Gear Grinder is a 21-month
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)
investigation that targeted eight major steroid
manufacturing companies, their owners, and their
trafficking associates. By reviewing the sources
of all seized and analyzed steroids submitted to
the DEA’s forensic laboratories, DEA intelligence
analysts and diversion investigators found that
82 percent of the steroids seized and analyzed are
of Mexican origin. A large majority of those 82
percent seized and analyzed steroids originate from
the eight companies identified in Operation
Gear Grinder. These businesses conducted
their sales via the Internet, and DEA estimates
their combined total U.S. steroid sales are $56
million per year.
“Steroid traffickers market their product by
luring young people with promises of enhanced performance
and appearance,” DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy
said, “but what they don’t say is the illicit use
of these harmful drugs can destroy the very bodies
that they are supposed to improve. Drug traffickers
prey on the belief that steroids enhance ability,
but steroids only rob that ability, as we have seen
so often from the affected lives of too many youth
and professional athletes.”
Operation Gear Grinder
is part of the Virtual Enforcement Initiative,
a coordinated DEA effort to target illegal Internet
drug trafficking, which was launched in April with
Operation Cyber Chase
and continued in September with Operation
CYBERx. DEA’s cyber initiative acknowledges
drug traffickers are embracing the use of 21 st
century technology to further spread their virus
into U.S. communities.
The steroid manufacturers involved in this investigation
tried to mask the true consumers of these products
by marketing them as being developed and sold for
use in animals. The veterinary manufacturers (“laboratorios”)
took notice of the demand for
anabolic
steroids and created a marketing strategy tailored
to the needs of the U.S. consumer – to include high-quality
products and internet websites. Communications via
the Internet and parcel distributions were the core
of these companies’ operations. The websites showcase
the products and offer an email address to exchange
prices and tracking numbers, and give ordering and
payment instructions.
These eight companies used U.S.-based email addresses
and listed each manufacturer utilizing a business
website to place their products in the hands of
American consumers. Some manufacturers provided
direct referrals to distributors through the Contact
Us section of the websites. The steroids were smuggled
into the United States, and shipped to customers.
In addition, steroids from the eight companies were
also shipped to U.S. traffickers, who re-sold the
products to their customers. Financial transactions
were primarily done via Western Union wire transfers,
as well as bank transfers and credit card payments.
These groups also supplied numerous pharmacies
along the U.S./Mexico border, where U.S. customers
could purchase steroids
and smuggle them back across the border into the
United States.
In addition to the Saltiel-Cohen arrest and indictments,
DEA today arrested 4 steroid trafficking suspects
in San Diego and Laredo, TX. As part of
Operation Gear Grinder,
DEA also identified over 2,000 U.S. customers that
have received steroids from the businesses indicted
today. These customers consist of individual users,
street-level dealers, and organized trafficking
groups in dozens of cities across the country.
(emphasis added by editor)
 
The Southern District of California has issued
indictments charging the companies and individual
defendants with the following:
- Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 952, 960 and 963
- Conspiracy to Import Anabolic Steroids;
- Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 846 and 841(a)(1)
- Conspiracy to Distribute Anabolic
Steroids;
- Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 2; Title 18, U.S.C.,
Secs. 1956(h) and 1956(a)(1)(A)(I) -
Conspiracy to Launder Money;
- Title 21, U.S.C.,Sec. 853(a), Title 18,
U.S.C.,Sec. 982 and Title 21, U.S.C.,Sec. 853(p)
- Criminal Forfeiture.
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Steroids
confiscated in the investigation were
marketed to be used with animals via
public web sites.
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Manufacturing Targets
1. Companies:
Quality
Vet,
Denkall, and
Animal
Power
Owners: Alberto Saltiel Cohen, Joaquin
Garcia Rivas, and Javier Garcia de la Pena.
These manufacturers are significant
U.S. suppliers of
Nandrolone
2. Company:
Laboratorios Tornel
Owner: Luis Bravo-Tornel
Manager: Mauricio Bravo-Berentsen
This manufacturer is a top U.S. supplier
of
Testosterone Decanoate
3. Company:
Laboratorios Brovel
Owner: Arturo Bravo-Valdes
This manufacturer is a top U.S. supplier
of
Nandrolone Decanoate
4. Company:
Pet’s Pharma
Owner: Ramon Vargas
Co-Owner-Eduardo Hernandez
This manufacturer is a top U.S. source
of
Testosterone Enanthate
5. Company:
Syd Group
Owner: Armando Guzman-Armenta
Associate: Amalia Lara
This manufacturer is a top U.S. source
of
Stanozolol
6. Company:
Loeffler
Officer: Jose Angel Garcia-Hinojosa
This manufacturer is a top U.S. source
of
Methandrostenolone
Operation Gear Grinder
was coordinated by the DEA Special Operations Division.
DEA offices in San Diego, Mexico City, Tijuana,
New York, Houston, San Antonio, and Laredo, Texas
participated in the investigation.
This investigation was a collaborative effort
involving DEA, numerous U.S state and local law
enforcement agencies, and the Mexican Federal Agency
of Investigation (AFI).
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