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http://www.herald.ns.ca/Front/563289.html
ARRAY OF CHARGES
Kevin Wayne Tanner, 38, of Elm Street in Bridgewater faces the following charges related to what officials are calling a large-scale anabolic steroid production and Internet sales business:
?Failing to comply with the Canada Customs Act
?Smuggling
?Possession and distribution of illegally imported goods
?Unlawfully producing anabolic steroids
?Trafficking anabolic steroids
?Unlawfully possessing steroids for the purpose of exporting from Canada
?Unlawfully possessing steroids for the purpose of trafficking
?Unlawfully importing steroids into Canada
?Violating a recognizance order to stay off the Internet
?Possessing child pornography
Steroid lab, porn seized in raid
Bridgewater man brought in hormones from China, cops say
By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter
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Police have seized more than $400,000 worth of drugs and shut down a large-scale anabolic steroid lab and Internet sales business they say operated out of a Bridgewater home.
Kevin Wayne Tanner, 38, of Elm Street in Bridgewater faces a number of smuggling and drug production and trafficking charges. He also faces charges of possessing child pornography and violating a court order.
The investigation, which officials dubbed Operation Scott Free for an alias the operator was allegedly using to conduct business, began in April 2005.
"It was quite a profitable business," said Blair McDonald, lead criminal investigator for the Canada Border Services Agency.
As part of the agency?s routine inspection of imported goods, an agent discovered a bag of what turned out to be raw steroid hormones.
That set off an investigation that discovered various shipments of hormones imported from mainland China, an Internet sales operation and a home chemistry lab containing a large quantity of ingredients and steroids. Bridgewater police were also involved in the investigation.
In Halifax on Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials displayed a large table covered with items including a computer hard drive, bags of powdered steroid hormones, empty vials, vial covers, pill bottles, beakers, empty gelatin capsules, an electronic scale and $46,000 in $100, $50 and American bills.
All of the items and cash were seized during a January raid on a Bridgewater home. Many of the bottles and vials were labelled Illusion Laboratories, the name under which investigators say the drugs were being sold.
In all, the operation produced 16 types of liquid anabolic steroids for injecting and five types of anabolic steroids in pill form. The vials sold for $75 to $100, Mr. McDonald said.
The operation also produced erectile dysfunction drugs ? impotency is a side-effect of steroid use ? that were labelled Viagra and Cialis after two of the popular brand-name drugs. Bottles of 100 pills were sold for $150, Mr. McDonald said.
The goods were sold over the Internet to customers found mainly in chat rooms devoted to steroid use. Customers paid using means from PayPal to cash in the mail, he said.
Mr. McDonald has reviewed several of the recipes used in the operation that were apparently obtained over the Internet.
"It doesn?t seem to be a very simple process," Mr. McDonald said.
It also apparently cost a fair bit to set up the business.
The bags of raw hormones cost $1,000 to $1,500 each, Mr. McDonald said.
Investigators say the lab was operated out of a spare bedroom.
"It was sophisticated enough that he could make a lot of different products," the investigator said.
Officials allege supplies were imported with the use of more than five fake names, various courier companies and a number of drop boxes for receiving mail.
Officers with the border services agency and Bridgewater police arrested Mr. Tanner at his workplace on Jan. 22. He was released from custody the next day on conditions that included orders to stay off the Internet and have no contact with two employees from the Bridgewater Pharmasave and an employee of Purolator Courier.
He has since been charged with violating the order to stay off the Internet.
Agency technicians searching the hard drive of the computer seized in the January raid have discovered 200 to 300 steroid customers from across Canada and the United States. The technicians? work will likely take several more weeks, officials said.
It was those technicians who discovered a collection of pornography, Mr. McDonald said.
"We found some very disturbing video and images of children as young as three."
Officials said Wednesday that proceeds-of-crime investigators may also be asked to look into the case. As well, there is a possibility Bridgewater police could lay charges under the Food and Drug Act regarding the production of the erectile dysfunction drugs.
Investigators say they will contact other enforcement agencies, particularly if they turn up evidence any of the operation?s customers were buying steroids for resale.
Officials say they believe the Bridgewater lab was operating independently and that the investigation is not linked to any other drug busts in Canada.
The counterfeit drug business is growing around the world and in some cases has even infiltrated the retail market, said Joan Todd, spokeswoman for Eli Lilly and Co., which produces Cialis.
"(Counterfeit drugs) are manufactured illegally in non-sanitary conditions," Ms. Todd said. "They don?t guarantee product integrity and patient safety."
She advises consumers to consult their doctor about drugs and take their prescriptions to a recognized pharmacy.
Mr. Tanner is scheduled to appear in Bridgewater provincial court on March 28 on the child pornography charge and the charge of breaching his recognizance.
On April 11, he is scheduled to answer to the smuggling and drug charges.
ARRAY OF CHARGES
Kevin Wayne Tanner, 38, of Elm Street in Bridgewater faces the following charges related to what officials are calling a large-scale anabolic steroid production and Internet sales business:
?Failing to comply with the Canada Customs Act
?Smuggling
?Possession and distribution of illegally imported goods
?Unlawfully producing anabolic steroids
?Trafficking anabolic steroids
?Unlawfully possessing steroids for the purpose of exporting from Canada
?Unlawfully possessing steroids for the purpose of trafficking
?Unlawfully importing steroids into Canada
?Violating a recognizance order to stay off the Internet
?Possessing child pornography
Steroid lab, porn seized in raid
Bridgewater man brought in hormones from China, cops say
By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter
ADVERTISEMENT
Police have seized more than $400,000 worth of drugs and shut down a large-scale anabolic steroid lab and Internet sales business they say operated out of a Bridgewater home.
Kevin Wayne Tanner, 38, of Elm Street in Bridgewater faces a number of smuggling and drug production and trafficking charges. He also faces charges of possessing child pornography and violating a court order.
The investigation, which officials dubbed Operation Scott Free for an alias the operator was allegedly using to conduct business, began in April 2005.
"It was quite a profitable business," said Blair McDonald, lead criminal investigator for the Canada Border Services Agency.
As part of the agency?s routine inspection of imported goods, an agent discovered a bag of what turned out to be raw steroid hormones.
That set off an investigation that discovered various shipments of hormones imported from mainland China, an Internet sales operation and a home chemistry lab containing a large quantity of ingredients and steroids. Bridgewater police were also involved in the investigation.
In Halifax on Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials displayed a large table covered with items including a computer hard drive, bags of powdered steroid hormones, empty vials, vial covers, pill bottles, beakers, empty gelatin capsules, an electronic scale and $46,000 in $100, $50 and American bills.
All of the items and cash were seized during a January raid on a Bridgewater home. Many of the bottles and vials were labelled Illusion Laboratories, the name under which investigators say the drugs were being sold.
In all, the operation produced 16 types of liquid anabolic steroids for injecting and five types of anabolic steroids in pill form. The vials sold for $75 to $100, Mr. McDonald said.
The operation also produced erectile dysfunction drugs ? impotency is a side-effect of steroid use ? that were labelled Viagra and Cialis after two of the popular brand-name drugs. Bottles of 100 pills were sold for $150, Mr. McDonald said.
The goods were sold over the Internet to customers found mainly in chat rooms devoted to steroid use. Customers paid using means from PayPal to cash in the mail, he said.
Mr. McDonald has reviewed several of the recipes used in the operation that were apparently obtained over the Internet.
"It doesn?t seem to be a very simple process," Mr. McDonald said.
It also apparently cost a fair bit to set up the business.
The bags of raw hormones cost $1,000 to $1,500 each, Mr. McDonald said.
Investigators say the lab was operated out of a spare bedroom.
"It was sophisticated enough that he could make a lot of different products," the investigator said.
Officials allege supplies were imported with the use of more than five fake names, various courier companies and a number of drop boxes for receiving mail.
Officers with the border services agency and Bridgewater police arrested Mr. Tanner at his workplace on Jan. 22. He was released from custody the next day on conditions that included orders to stay off the Internet and have no contact with two employees from the Bridgewater Pharmasave and an employee of Purolator Courier.
He has since been charged with violating the order to stay off the Internet.
Agency technicians searching the hard drive of the computer seized in the January raid have discovered 200 to 300 steroid customers from across Canada and the United States. The technicians? work will likely take several more weeks, officials said.
It was those technicians who discovered a collection of pornography, Mr. McDonald said.
"We found some very disturbing video and images of children as young as three."
Officials said Wednesday that proceeds-of-crime investigators may also be asked to look into the case. As well, there is a possibility Bridgewater police could lay charges under the Food and Drug Act regarding the production of the erectile dysfunction drugs.
Investigators say they will contact other enforcement agencies, particularly if they turn up evidence any of the operation?s customers were buying steroids for resale.
Officials say they believe the Bridgewater lab was operating independently and that the investigation is not linked to any other drug busts in Canada.
The counterfeit drug business is growing around the world and in some cases has even infiltrated the retail market, said Joan Todd, spokeswoman for Eli Lilly and Co., which produces Cialis.
"(Counterfeit drugs) are manufactured illegally in non-sanitary conditions," Ms. Todd said. "They don?t guarantee product integrity and patient safety."
She advises consumers to consult their doctor about drugs and take their prescriptions to a recognized pharmacy.
Mr. Tanner is scheduled to appear in Bridgewater provincial court on March 28 on the child pornography charge and the charge of breaching his recognizance.
On April 11, he is scheduled to answer to the smuggling and drug charges.
...give me a break....
