National Police officers disbanded drug network

A drug trafficking organization based in the town of Roquetas de Mar has been disbanded by National Police officers. A total of eight people, of both Spanish and Colombian nationality, have been arrested.

During the seizure, 4.2 kilograms of cocaine, a handgun, ammunition, anabolic steroids, two cars, a night vision monitor, fifteen mobile phones, 3,000 euro in cash, and a collection of documents and materials believed to have been used by the criminal gang were recovered.

From Theleader.info:

The investigation, which began several months ago, focused initially on the ring leaders of the organization based in Almería, who would provide drugs to smaller time dealers who then sold the drugs directly to the public.

As part of the investigation, officers were able to identify two people who were at the very top of the supply chain, with contacts in Madrid, who in turn fed drugs to similar networks across Spain.

During the course of the investigation it was determined that the organization used so called “mules”, people posing as tourists who would travel to South America by air, to then return to Spain carrying the drugs.

On Christmas Eve, the gang attempted to smuggle 2.5 kilograms of cocaine into the country by this method, believing that there would be fewer checks by law enforcement agents. Officers based at Madrid-Barajas Airport intercepted the courier and arrested a Spanish citizen on a flight from Colombia, via Frankfurt, in which they seized the drugs, which were hidden in bags coated with tracing paper and foam and hidden inside a suitcase.

This operation was conducted by officers of the Drugs Unit and Organized Crime (UDYCO) from Almeria, in collaboration with the Narcotics Group of Madrid-Barajas Airport.

Illegal online pharmacies dealing in fake drugs

Sixty two percent of medicines purchased over the internet are either substandard or fake, according to a new report.

The watchdog Irish Medicines Board (IMB) in 2007 seized nearly 200,000 illegally imported tablets and capsules, including anabolic steroids, anti-impotence drugs and weight loss products.

From Independent.ie:

The report, based on an analysis of more than 100 online pharmacies, examined the medicines which were delivered without need of prescription. It revealed:

- 95.6pc of online pharmacies researched are operating illegally.

- 94pc of websites do not have a named, verifiable pharmacist.

- Over 90pc of websites supply prescription-only medicines without a prescription.

- 86pc of online 'pharmacy approval' stamps are fake.

- There is a three in five chance of receiving a fake or substandard medicine if you purchase online.

- Only 38pc of the medicines received were found to be genuine, branded medicines, 16pc of these were illegal non-EU imports (genuine products, imported into the EU illegally from a non-EU country), and 33pc did not have patient information leaflets.

The findings are contained in the report of the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines (EAASM).

Amazon.com offering steroids for sale

An investigation by Californian firm Anti-Doping Research has revealed that illegal steroids can be easily bought, with them freely available at Amazon.com.

"To me, it's absolutely an amazing story," Anti-Doping Research chief executive officer Don Catlin told The Washington Post.

From Nutraingredients-usa.com:

His firm bought about 10 products which testing confirmed contained illegal steroids that are known to have dangerous side effects such as liver toxicity.

Catlin said he had notified the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration as well as Amazon.com about the matter. Anti-Doping Research indicated there were many similar products that continued to be sold on Amazon.com.

Enforce the law

Dan Fabricant, PhD, the vice president of scientific and global government affairs at the Natural Products Association (NPA), said the situation revealed the need for the dietary supplements industry to remain vigilant and reach out more intensively to retailers on the internet, even behemoths like Amazon.com.

Catlin also said, "To just go on Amazon.com and order anabolic steroids."

Cycling chief accused WADA of being unprofessional

The president of cycling's governing body, Hein Verbruggen, has accused WADA of being "unprofessional" after it leaked a confidential report on the Tour de France and claimed the agency has a hidden agenda.

"The report was leaked purposely," Verbruggen, who is also a leading member of the IOC, told the Guardian.

From Guardian.co.uk:

The International Cycling Union said yesterday that officials from WADA will no longer be able to attend cycle races as observers. Verbruggen claimed that the leak is linked to a dispute between the agency and the ICU over the use of corticosteroids by athletes with a doctor's prescription. "The leak happened exactly the day before WADA's executive meeting is to pronounce on the list of banned substances," said a statement.

The issue came to a head last July in the Tour de France when the race leader, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, tested positive for the asthma drug salbutamol. WADA said he would be positive under their rules but the ICU cleared him.

"The report was leaked to L'Equipe and today there is discussion about the list [of substances]," said Verbruggen. "It has been used to influence the situation; I have to come to that conclusion."

"I do not say WADA are always unprofessional but this shows an unprofessional attitude," Verbruggen added.

Kohl likely to be sacked by Silence Lotto

The Silence Lotto team is expected to sack Bernhard Kohl after he tested positive for the new generation of the banned blood booster EPO, at the Tour de France, CERA.

The positive sample finding was confirmed by France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD).

From Espnstar.com:

Kohl finished third and also won the Polka Dot jersey as the best climber on this year's Tour.

The Austrian, who rode for Gerolsteiner this season, had signed a contract with Silence Lotto which was due to run until 2011.

But a statement from his new team read: "Around 1900 (on Monday) the press told us that Bernhard Kohl has been controlled positively for the use of CERA.

"We have immediately checked this information with the Gerolsteiner's manager, who has confirmed it.

"If this information is confirmed by the official authorities, the team management will start the legal steps in view of breaking immediately our future collaboration with Kohl."

Italians Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli, plus Germany's Stefan Schumacher, have already tested positive for CERA.

Kohl's sample was found to include CERA before and during the Tour after re-tests at a laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry.

Positive CERA test for Sella

Emanuele Sella, a triple stage winner in the Giro d'Italia, has tested positive for CERA, the latest form of the blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO).

CERA is the same drug that was found in a sample provided by his fellow climber Riccardo Ricco during the Tour de France.

From Guardian.co.uk:

Sella said yesterday: "I know nothing about this story. No one has said anything to me. None of it is true." But the news was confirmed by the Italian cycling federation, which had announced three other positive tests last week, including that of the women's world road race champion, Marta Bastianelli, for a stimulant found in slimming medicines.

Sella was tested on July 23, out of competition and unannounced, a week after Ricco's positive test which was the first for a substance previously considered undetectable. Sella had been targeted after his three mountain stage wins in the Giro, where the diminutive Italian finished sixth overall and also won the king of the mountains title.

Among his three victories were back-to-back wins in stages 14 and 15. Such a spectacular performance in the mountains was seen as suspicious, the more so because his CSF-Navigare team had had a rider test positive earlier in the season.

The news was confirmed by the Italian cycling federation.

International Olympic Committee to probe US gold medal

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is considering an investigation that could lead to another US relay team being stripped of an Olympic gold medal for doping.

The US Anti-Doping Agency said Crystal Cox, who ran in the preliminaries for the US women's 4x400 relay team at the 2004 Athens Olympics, admitted making use of anabolic steroids.

From Heraldsun.com.au:

The fate of Cox's gold medal and the medals held by the rest of the team is up to the International Olympic Committee.

"The IOC is looking into the file and considering setting up a disciplinary commission," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said on Monday.

The IOC has previously stripped national relay teams of medals retroactively for any doping admission or drug suspension - including three US teams from the 2000 Sydney Games.

The Athens case also involves the International Association of Athletics Federations, which determines official results and placings.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said the issue would be examined by the IAAF's ruling council at its meeting in Doha, Qatar, in March during the world indoor championships.

An entire relay team can be disqualified because of the doping of one member, even an alternate, as per international rules.

American hammer thrower banned

Scott Boothby, the American hammer thrower, has been suspended for eight years after he tested steroids and a masking agent, according to the US Anti-Doping Agency.

The 33-year-old Boothby has stopped competing but remained in the random drug-testing program since he had not filed proper retirement paperwork.

From Foxsports.com.au:

Boothby tested positive for finasteride in an out-of-competition test on June 25. The substance is permissable if part of a prescribed medication, but Boothby had no such exemption filed.

Finasteride is common in hair restoration products and Boothby said he tested positive because he was using one of them.

US skeleton slider Zach Lund was yanked from the Torino Winter Olympics in February, just hours before the opening ceremony, for using finasteride. Lund also blamed a hair-restoration medication.

Boothby revealed last August he had been caught for the masking agent, telling the Oregonian newspaper, "I'm not a doper. I've been drug-free my whole life."

But, less than a month later, Boothby was hit with a second doping violation. Following a random test on September 6, he tested positive for anabolic agents 6-oxo-androstenedione and its metabolite 6a-hydroxyandrostenehione.

A reduction in the usual lifetime ban was proper for the second offence, says the USADA.