National Police of Ukraine stopped the activities of the country’s largest underground production of anabolic steroids, which were passed off as imported drugs for athletes.
Law enforcement officers established that the production of mixtures for building muscle mass, “drying” the body, and losing weight took place in an ordinary apartment without observing basic safety and sanitation standards.
The drugs included substances that are usually used in the treatment of serious diseases, including cancer. Such components have strict contraindications, but the organizers sold them in high doses, without prescription control or supervision of medical professionals. The finished product was sold under the guise of an imported drug from Malaysia, using fake packaging.
The investigation and liquidation operation was organized by the investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police under the operational support of the Department of Criminal Investigation and with the support of the Main Department of Internal Security of the SBU under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
As a result of the searches, more than 20,000 packages of steroids, 3,000 ampoules with unidentified substances, special equipment for production, packaging and labeling, as well as cash in various currencies totaling more than 37 million hryvnias were seized.
All five suspects were charged with the sale of falsified medicinal products by an organized group using information technology. This is the first case in Ukraine when a suspicion of falsification of steroids was officially raised. The investigation managed to prove that the drugs contained active pharmaceutical components, which according to the law are classified as medicinal products.
