Governo dos EUA (GAO) compra de esteróides na Net – Fontes internacionais presos

Acting upon requests by members of Congress, investigators from the United States Government Accountability Office (the G.A.O.) decided to see what would happen if they tried to buy steroids over the Internet. Shock and surprise, they discovered the same thing that bodybuilders worldwide have known for years - you can get burned, you can get bogus roids, ou, if you\'re lucky, you might just find the real deal.

Entende, for many longtime steroid users, it’s common knowledge that steroids and other banned performance enhancing substances can be purchased over the Internet. Most of the time, no prescription is needed and there is very little effort involved in placing the order. This is why buying steroids from Internet sources has become so popular. Infelizmente, some people just aren’t knowledgeable when it comes to purchasing steroids on Internet websites and one of three things happens to these types of people:

1) They will get exactly what they ordered without getting caught and, por sua vez, they find a good source to purchase steroids from in the future. This outcome is pretty rare.

2) They won’t get anything at all while at the same time getting cheated out of their money (but at least they know who NOT to buy from in the future if that’s any consolation).

3) (The worst outcome!) They will receive substances that are not real steroids disguised to look like the real thing. Who knows what the hell this fake stuff will actually do to them if they take it!

(To avoid getting burned like these unlucky guys, check out my e-book The Secret of Mail Order Steroid Success: 2006 Edição).

When the US Government set out to find steroids on the Internet, the exact three things happened to them. Their hunt for illegal steroids began with a simple Internet search that resulted in hundreds of websites offering anabolic steroids for sale. After setting up an e-mail account under a fictitious name, investigators from the GOA placed 22 orders for anabolic steroids and paid for them in full. When the orders were received, they found out that 10 of the shipments came from foreign countries and 4 of them came from within the United States. Eight of the orders that they placed were never filled - you see, even Uncle Sam can get scammed!

o 14 shipments that the GOA actually received were then further analyzed by the Food and Drug Administration to determine if they were in fact real anabolic steroids. Of the 10 shipments received from outside the U.S., all of them were determined to be real steroids. Por outro lado, a 4 shipments that came from inside of the United States were determined by the FDA to be something other than steroids. This happened despite the claims that all four shipments were either anabolic steroids or some other performance enhancer (sim, even Uncle Sam can get burned buying counterfeit steroids!).

If you’re thinking that the investigators from the Government Office of Accountability did massive amounts of thorough research before undertaking this operation and used lots of expensive software and computer technology, think again. The whole idea behind the investigation by the GAO was to see how easy it would be for ANYONE to find and purchase illegal steroids from dealers and other sources who are eager to sell them.

Just how did they do this? By simulating what the average bodybuilder or athlete of any age could do on a home computer. They queried search engines with terms as simplistic as “anabolic steroids” and typed in the names of other common performance enhancers used by bodybuilders and athletes as well. These searches uncovered the websites from which they ordered the steroids.

The GOA investigators didn’t put countless hours of thought into the selection of sites they would buy the steroids from either. They randomly picked the websites that openly advertised themselves as sellers of anabolic steroids. Some of these companies also happened to sell other pharmaceuticals while others only sold steroids.

Investigators further found that to sweeten the deal, many of the websites offered some very choice shipping arrangements. In order to sooth the nerves of buyers, these sites advertised “discreet shipping” and “private and confidential” mailing to avoid alerting authorities.

If you\'re interested in finding out what countries the steroids are being mailed from, it most likely won’t be displayed on the website you\'re purchasing them from. As the investigators from the GAO discovered, this information came from postmarks and return addresses on the packages. Of the 10 shipments that they received, 1 was from Athens, Grécia, 4 were from Shanghai, China, and the remaining 5 were all from Trieste, Itália.

Examples of the prices and payment methods for some of the steroids received are as follows:

- $114.00 was paid by credit card to the company in Athens, Greece for one bottle of Testosterone Propionate (liquid form).

- $109.20 was paid by credit card to a company in Trieste, Italy for 200 tablets of Methandrostenolone (D-Bol).

- $323.00 was wired to Shanghai, China for 40 crushed green tablets of Oxymetholone.

To sum up the GOA investigation, they discovered that steroids could indeed be easily purchased over the Internet from foreign sources. And they could be bought at affordable prices - often for less than their US equivalents.

So now that the word is out in Washington about how easy it is to purchase illegal steroids over the Internet, authorities will begin crack down on prospective buyers and sellers any day now making it even harder to safely find steroids, certo? Não é bem assim!

Entende, there are multiple problems that face law enforcement officials. One problem is that there is always going to be a readily available supply of steroids because it is completely legal to sell steroids to people without prescriptions in most countries in the world. This leads to another obstacle for law enforcement in terms of prosecuting distributors in foreign countries. In countries where it’s not illegal to sell steroids to the United States, law agencies from the U.S. have a tough time getting assistance from foreign governments.

Another headache facing law enforcement in America is steroid smugglers. Smugglers often travel to other countries and purchase steroids. They then turn around and either physically bring the steroids back in clever packaging or use the mail to do so. Those that use the mail often send the packages to a re-mailer who then sends the steroids to his customers.

The Internet has proved to be an additional challenge in keeping steroids from entering the U.S. também. Buyers and sellers can come together easily online and the transaction only involves payment and postal mailing. Providers of free, offshore e-mail services like EliteFitness.com Stealth Messaging, Hushmail, and Operamail only make things harder because they cannot easily be subpoenaed and use strong encryption.

Still don’t think that governmental law agencies have their hands full, trying to crack down on steroid sources? Then add in the incoming mail to the 14 international mail facilities and the 29 express consignment carrier facilities throughout the country that the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection attempts to inspect each day. This coupled with the innovations of smugglers placing steroids inside items like radios and books and it proves to be nearly impossible to keep up with.

Contudo, the Drug Enforcement Administration recently announced the indictment of eight Mexican drug manufacturers that were accused of selling steroids. Following a 21 month investigation, Operation Gear Grinder, the largest operation ever against foreign steroid manufacturers, the DEA stated that eight companies together, vendida $56 million dollars annually to the United States by means of the Internet. The companies under investigation are:

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
Proprietário: Luis Bravo-Tornel
Manager: Mauricio Bravo-Berentsen
This manufacturer is a top U.S. supplier of Testosterone Decanoate

3. Company: Laboratorios Brovel
Proprietário: Arturo Bravo-Valdes
This manufacturer is a top U.S. supplier of Nandrolone Decanoate

4. Company: Pet’s Pharma
Proprietário: Ramon Vargas
Co-Owner-Eduardo Hernandez
This manufacturer is a top U.S. source of Testosterone Enanthate

5. Company: Syd Group
Proprietário: 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

But this is only one blow to foreign steroid providers. With so many of them spread throughout the world, and with so many difficulties facing law enforcement agencies in the U.S., this will serve as only a small deterrent to those selling steroids to Americans. Luckily for steroid users here, sales will still go on and buyers will still get hooked up with what they need, as long as they’re informed (Mais uma vez, Ver Secrets: 2006). So make sure to do some research and be careful who you buy from so that purchasing steroids from the Internet can be as easy for you as it proved to be for the government.

To read more about and discuss the Mexican steroid bust (operation Gear Grinder), check out the posting on the EliteFitness.com Discussion Forums - Largest Steroid Bust in History!

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