The steroidmarket in Scandinavia

I recently wrote about the steroidmarket in Danmark, the Danish newspaper Politiken started to write about the Danish steroidmarket and all the brands that are located there or originate from there. Not completely new since the Swedish Aftonbladet, reported about the Swedish roidmarket which is off course connected with the other Scandinavian markets. The Vikings love muscles and musclepower, also countries like Iceland and Finland have large groups of people that compete in powerlifting, strongman competition and bodybuilding. I’ll compare a few operations the police undertook to destroy the steroidmarkets in Scandinavia. It will never work as you and I know. Part of this are the media, the police forces and the politicians exaggerating facts and dangers for their own purposes.

A giant police effort began in 2009, 40 police officers from nine different police forces took part in what was called Operation Liquid, to catch the major importers and suppliers in Sweden which of Swedish IFBB pro Martin Kjällström was highly involved.

The 42-year-old bodybuilder was convicted of, among other serious doping violations and aiding and abetting aggravated trafficking. The punishment was imprisonment for two years and nine months, a penalty that the bodybuilder himself thought was unduly harsh. In an interview shortly afterwards with Aftonbladet, the bodybuilder, one of Sweden's most known in his sport, said that he doped himself daily. There was a need to belong to the world elite. He was not particularly repentant.
“ It does not matter what I do with my body as long as it does not affect anyone else. But it's clear that I'm sorry, this is destroying me and my family, 'he said.
 

When it was time to appear to serve his sentence in 2012, he never showed up - he had fled abroad. In May this year, over a year later, Aftonbladet, revealed that he was in Brazil. There, he taunted police by competing in a bodybuilding competition “The Arnold Classic”, Aftonbladet also printed pictures. He could compete with the assurance that the law's long arm couldn’t not reach him. Brazil has no extradition treaty with Sweden.

- As soon as he sets foot in Europe, he is sold, said Peter Kron, inspector of felonies Division in Gothenburg. That’s what happened on June 4 2014, he could be arrested in England. On July 24, he was transported back to Sweden.

The same happened in Australia in 2000 when newspaper “The Age” wrote a long special “Steroids our Booming export” , which terminated the Australian/ Mexican steroidmarket.

Danish media Politiken broke the story, that Denmark according to local authorities has “a special status on the doping market”, as producer and distributor of doping substances. Four major brands have close ties to Denmark – India-based Alpha-Pharma has a Danish CEO and Denmark as a sort of distribution hub for their product, Gen-Shi Labs has opened a third laboratory in Denmark ‘due to increasing demands’, Danish customs has on several occasions seized empty Diamond-packaging entering the country, and Dragon has its web site hosted on a server in Jutland.

“Unfortunately, it confirms our suspicion that there is organized doping crime in Denmark – probably on quite a big scale. We should expect to see the police respond,” said Jens Evald, chairman of Anti-Doping Denmark and professor at the University of Aarhus.

Another sign of Denmark’s central role is that [Danish tax authorities] Skat often confiscate the largest amounts of doping going out of the country.

“It seems strange that shipments go out of the country on such a scale. We can deduce that there to a certain extent is dissemination of doping from Denmark, “said Axel Grønkjær from Skat.

As a result of the Norwegian doping operation “Operasjon Party”, charges have been brought against two Danes for smuggling drugs from Denmark to Norway. Denmark is one of steroid-smugglers preferred gates to the other Scandinavian countries.

It is clear from the cases of two major drug rings that Norwegian and Swedish police have dismantled from 2009 to the present. Currently, two Danes term in Europe's biggest doping ever 'to be involved in organized circulation and trafficking of doping substances to Norway. " the Norwegian police reveals .

Operasjon Gilde

“The Danes were part of a larger network. They received raw doping powder, which relayed, smuggled or stored for some of the major backers in this case. We can also see that finished drug products are smuggled from Denmark into Norway ", says Per Martin Utkilen, chief prosecutor in Sør-Trøndelag Police District and exploration manager in the Norwegian case, which bears the name Operasjon Party.

Over a 100 people were accused of being part of the Norwegian doping ring that had a turnover of more than 100 million black dollars over the past seven years. Denmark's role is so central to the proceedings that Sør-Trøndelag Police District has described it in a response to the Government of Norway, by tightening the law on doping area.

“Operation Gilde” targets Norway's internet steroid dealers.

Feb 2012 ***Norwegian police have mounted what’s being called the country’s largest doping raid ever, arresting more than 10 persons and jailing six after a lengthy investigation. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that the alleged doping ring appears to be based in Trondheim.

DN published its own investigation into the trafficking and sale of anabolic steroids in Norway , and police launched a major probe. They believe a secret network centered in Trondheim is behind doping sales and subsequent laundering of the money.

Simultaneous arrests
Those involved are tied to the body-building, physical fitness and health foods industries in Norway. Suspects were arrested at a wide range of locations last week, including their homes and businesses, as well as in parking lots and even at a tram stop.

“We have targeted those who we believe have sold illegal doping substances on a product exchange under the code names of Guru and Karma,” police lawyer Per Martin Utkilen of the Sør-Trøndelag police chamber told DN. “There’s reason to believe several people are behind these code names.” The product exchange reportedly has been in the form of a locked website with thousands of members called “Anabolic Forums,” which allegedly has provided a large marketplace for illegal sale and purchase of steroids.

DN reported that among those arrested was one of Norway’s most well-known “fitness gurus,” Robert Eilertsen, an entrepreneur and editor of a fitness blog that reportedly has 200,000 readers. Eilertsen has also written columns for some regional newspapers in Norway and worked as a personal coach for top athletes within football, handball, boxing and other martial arts.

Police suspect that Eilertsen and others arrested, are part of a syndicate that has supplied Norwegian youth with dangerous dope for many years. Around 60 police officers were involved in the raids that led to 11 arrests, but were likely to result in more.

Police won’t comment further on the raid while their investigation continues, perhaps for as long as another year. The raids also involved officials from Norway’s customs and tax authorities, with many computers and documents seized from homes, offices, cars and other property.

Operation Gilde in numbers

The identification of several Norwegian doping network headed by South Trøndelag police. It has as February 2013 led to:

◾ Over 100 people have been charged

◾ 20 people are indicted for organized crime

◾ 10 company has been charged

◾ 14 police throughout Norway has been involved in the investigation

◾ Two factories for doping revealed. One in Jessheim and one in Trondheim

◾ 70 700 tablets, 700 glass and 6,500 vials of liquid doping, 140 kg ingredients for tablet manufacturing as well as smaller amounts of marijuana, GHB, cocaine, methamphetamine and amphetamine seized

◾ 500 computers seized

◾ Police sits on 500 terabytes of data. A terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes.

◾ The database from online forum Anabolic Forums, with information on more than 2000 Norwegian doping buyers were seized in June 2012

◾ Operation Gilde has generated 3,000 pages of documents
 

The winners

Parliament criminalises thousands of Norwegian drug users with a new decision. (these guys and gals are most obvious the scape goats, the losers in this case)

Unlike neighboring countries Denmark and Sweden, it has always been legal to use doping in Norway. But the Parliament decided in March 2012 that drug use should be prohibited. Since July 1 2012 it is a crime to use, possess and acquire doping, according to the new law. Previously, only the sale and importation has been prohibited. It has been allowed to keep 4,000 milligrams of drugs for personal use.

The politicians

Kari Anne Tung (AP) fronted the proposal to criminalize drug use.

And the Parliament decided that it will now be prohibited. The setting of Health and Human Services Committee was unanimously adopted. - A major step

It was Trøndelag Labour went on to propose the criminalization of doping. Kari Anne Tung fronted the proposal that was included in a White Paper last summer.

“This is great although the fight against doping is not won. It is a big step in the right direction”, she says to adressa.no.

Tung was even in parliament Monday. Ain’t that her fucking job?

“ It is important to keep the focus on this issue. While it is nice to be here, I feel a special connection to this.”

The politician has had strong experiences in her direct neighborhood, which she relates to doping . A few years ago a close friend of Tung lost his life. A death she describes as drug related.

This little slut had her moment of glory. What did her friend do? Overdose on Testosterone? Come on. This kind of journalism and politics makes me puke!!

The press

This weekend received SKUP Today's Business Award for its revelations of what the newspaper calls "a drug mafia in Trondheim." Address newspaper in February awarded the Trøndelag journalism award for their coverage of the case.

The professional Anti-s

“This is a milestone in anti-doping work and a clear signal from the large community that doping is not accepted; It can prevent damage to users or third parties and gives us better tools to deal with organized criminal activity”, said Anders Solheim, CEO of Anti-Doping Norway in a statement after the ban was enacted.

The police

In the first half of 2012 Bjørn Are Kattem led the doping investigations in Trondheim. Kattem has now moved on to become Head of Section for investigation in the police district. “The case has an educational function for the entire police force in Norway” , says Kattem .

In a basement in Eastern Norway large quantities of illegal doping were produced. Photo: POLICE

Bodybuilder had drug factory in the basement

He produced large quantities of anabolic steroids in a home laboratory in a residential building.

Worth hundreds of thousands: Just under 700 jars of doping were seized.

Adressa.no can now bring the police's own images from the raid in eastern Norway.

Hidden in the basement

The factory was hidden in the basement of an ordinary residential building in Ullensaker Municipality. It has provided anabolic steroids in grand style. Doping agents are often compounded together in such home labs, after the active ingredient is sourced from China or other countries through the internet.

A doping factory, complete with professional production equipment and inventory.

In the basement room the walls are uncovered, bubble wrap is in a corner and shelves are up to the ceiling harboring different supplies: labels, vials, chemicals. On top of the stove is a copier and a shelf above it, several bottles of methylated spirits. A black trash bag is taped over the window at the top of the wall.

On the workbench in doping factory is a weight scale and a dispencer. In another corner the inventory is neatly stacked in clear plastic boxes from Ikea. The boxes are organized by steroid type and amount.

When police entered, the factory was run out of enanthate (Testosterone), while there was plenty of Masteron, Primobolan, Testosterone propionate left in stock. The latter is a fast-acting steroid that can provide visible results within a week. I don’t know what you think, but I only see a small scale UG Lab that only has a few kinds of roids available.

“It values ​several hundred thousands of dollars”, said police lawyer Bente Bøklepp to adressa.no.

This is how the media and the police justify the deployment of equipment and time (and thus money), by gross exaggeration.

Just multiply 700 (vials) by a mean value of 40 euro and you get 28.000 euro instead of several hundreds of thousands.

Two men, a 40-year-old and a man in his 30s, was arrested in connection with the raid. Both belong to a bodybuilder and fitness environment, like many others of the 60 accused in the Operation Gilde.

After two days in custody in Trondheim, both men were released. They are still charged with serious doping offense.

Most expensive ever
 

Police have spent 36 million on Operation Gilde so far.

Police have spent 36 million on Operation Gilde so far. It makes the nationwide unfolding of the Norwegian doping network to Europe's biggest doping investigation.

In total, 14 police districts have participated in Operation Gilde , but the investigation are led from Trondheim. The trial against seven men from Trondelag county have been going on since 6 January in Sør-Trøndelag District Court, writes the newspaper Adresseavisen .

“I do not think we had a case more expensiv,” says Bjørn Are Kattem , division leader of investigation at Sør-Trøndelag Police .

The seven defendants are central to the doping network , according to prosecutors . In total, 118 people have been charged in the case. The seven men are charged with gross production and sale of doping agents as part of an organized criminal group based in Trondheim. Police believe that sales have been up to NOK100 million, but has not yet managed to uncover where the money has gone. As I already showed you the police force is unable to do some simple math, thus it is not that hard to figure why they can’t find all those millions.. LOL.

“The case has educational value for the entire police force in Norway” , says Kattem .

In addition to the 40 investigators at the central police station in Trondheim personnel from the Tax and Economic Crime been activated. NCIS has also assisted .

Doing research on this post I came along some facts that are going on for years and never change. I really want post about these action-reaction, but like Lenny sung: “Everything changes, but it all stays the same. Everyone’s guilty, no one to blame” .

I posted in the Danmark article that I wanted to disclose how these products were transported, but I was asked not to stir the shit, since many guys are facing lawsuits due to seizures and ongoing research. I agree it’s probably better that I don’t post to much about these subjects. I know of a case of controlled delivery of some big transporters involved. This is been going on for over a year now. And agencies now know exactly who receives what and how much. Be safe.