More than 2000 vials of a banned steroid have been found by Customs officials inside a parcel sent to Sydney from Thailand.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the steroid seizure by customs in February has resulted in ongoing steroid busts in Sydney Australia (”Steroids found in Thai parcel: customs,” April 1).
Customs officers at Australia Post’s Gateway Facility in Sydney found the 2,378 ampoules of Sustanon 250, Stanozol and Nandrolone in plastic bags after examining a parcel from Thailand said to contain glass figures…
After finding the drugs in the mail on February 19, Customs investigators executed search warrants on premises in south-western Sydney last Friday and seized evidentiary material.
Investigations into the major steroid seizure are continuing.
Customs national manager for investigations, Richard Janezcko, said the agency was “continuing to detect and investigate increased attempts to smuggle prohibited and restricted performance enhancing drugs into Australia”.
Australia’s war on steroids is one of the most aggressive in the world, perhaps even more draconian than the efforts by the United States.
Two of the best-known and most successful internet sources of anabolic steroids have been arrested at a Pattaya seaside resort in Thailand as part of an international sting operation involving the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). They will be extradited to the United States on “charges of using the Internet to illegally export steroids to the United States” (”Two Britons arrested in Thailand after sting operation: police,” March 21)
Police gave the names of the two detained men as Ashly Vincent Livingston, 45, and Edwin Richard Crawly, 44. They were arrested in a sting operation involving US anti-drug agents, police said.
Anthony Roberts called me to identity Edwin Richard Crawly as one of the founders of British Dragon and to identify Ashly Vincent Livingston as Redicat. Anthony broke the story on his blog.
Thai authorities have told the media that the two Britons did not do anything illegal in Thailand. Consequently, they face no charges in Thailand.
Livingston and Crawly set up an online store to sell steroids to customers in the United States. Steroids are legal in Thailand but are a controlled substance in the US.
The police later arrested Mr.Edwin Richard Crawley (44) a British national who lives in the house, which he had used as the centre of operations for his business. According to the police report, Mr. Edwin Richard Crawley originally opened a company called” Nutri Med. Co. Ltd.” registered as an import-export company…
Another police team also searched a single house opposite and found Mr. Graisorn Tongrak (31) the son- in-law of Mr.Edwin Richard Crawley, who was looking after the house for his father- in-law…
After that, the police took both suspects to search another building in the same soi, registered as a company called” Vincent Centre Service Co. Ltd. operating a postal and utility bill payment service. Here, however, police found several empty bags of drugs, called “British Dragon” and 2,500 copies of steroid instruction sheets.
The D.E.A. officers took the steroids away for evidence. They also searched a warehouse behind the Nutri Med. company office, where they found and confiscated two machines used to pack steroids and also seized two land deed papers relating to the two houses, a Toyota car, a BMW R1200 RT motorbike, and 13 bank books which contained millions of baht; in total property worth about Bt 20 million.
A third group of police later arrested Mr.Ashley Vincent Livingston (45) British, and Mrs. Jirawan Livingston(38) , his wife, living at a house in Moo. 10, Soi Kow Noi, Pattaya Hill 1. According to the information police had received, they all belonged to the same gang, whose big boss was Edwin Richard Crawley. At this house, the police did not find any evidence, but seized a land deed paper, a Honda and a Toyota car, jewellery, Bt 100,000 in cash, and six bank books, which had many tens of millions of baht in the accounts. Police Major General, Amaresrit Wattanawiboon, revealed that Thai police were originally notified by the D.E.A. that they had intercepted steroids, which had been delivered to America in plain envelopes and on investigation, discovered that the biggest operation was in Pattaya . Mr. Edwin (the big boss) had been importing steroids from China through the Internet and then forwarding them to USA and Europe. On receipt, customers would send money to his account in Thailand. Some of the goods were sent to Pattaya and repacked in dolls or fruit, to be sent to Europe by parcel or in plain envelopes. Mr. Ashley had been worked with Mr. Edwin as his assistant, finding customers for him. This operation had been running since 1999. It made him a millionaire, being able to afford to buy property in Pattaya worth Bt 20 million.
The anabolic steroid black market is on the verge of being driven completely underground meaning steroids will likely travel same channels as black market narcotics. Obviously, this makes the use of black market androgens more dangerous than ever.
