Taureau
Administrator
The original operation began as a result of a 2005 sting operation which found that 8 Mexican drug manufacturers were responsible for the distribution of about eighty percent of the Black Market Anabolic Steroids sold in the United States. In addition to these 8 Mexican laboratories, many Chinese pharmaceutical factories were also discovered to be pumping raw ingredients to Mexico by sea and by air.
The bust of these Mexican Steroid laboratories by United States law enforcement officials was dubbed Operation Meat Grinder. The goal of Operation Meant Grinder was to shut down every Black Market Anabolic Steroid Drug Manufacturing Laboratory in Mexico. It was widely believed that if they accomplished this goal, it would put a major dent in the distributed supply of Black Market Anabolic Steroids entering the United States on a daily basis.
The Steroids sold by these Mexican companies for the most part were Animal Steroids which were intended for livestock use. The two main counts in which the United States arrested individuals affiliated with this drug trafficking ring was with counts of conspiracy to launder money obtained by illicit acts and conspiracy to distribute anabolic Steroids.
Dr. Alberto Saltiel-Cohen: Veterinary Steroid Kingpin
In Operation Meat Grinder, Drug Enforcement Agency officials started a website named bio-power-meds.com, pretending to be a link between Mexican Drug manufacturers and American drug buyers. This website netted numerous leads both with Illicit Steroid Buyers and Sellers on both sides of the border. The two websites which produced the most significant leads were two sites mexicanSteroidsales.com and anabolicsclub.com.
With some investigation, officers discovered that a veterinarian named Alberto Saltiel-Cohen was responsible for the distribution of Anabolic Steroids sold on these two websites. The companies through which he manufactured and distributed Anabolic Steroids were known as Quality Vet, Denkall, and Animal Power. Undercover DEA agents negotiated sales and ordered them to be sent to a post office box. Through this arrangement, DEA officials were able to track or seize some 360,000 doses of illegal Steroids. Drug Enforcement Agents tracked these individual transactions in order to gain information needed to make arrests.
Drug Enforcement Agents used smart phones to email their suspects back and forth and arrange sales. Officers quickly discovered that these individuals were not who you would stereotypically imagine to be illegal drug dealers. They were high-end professionals and spoke like businessmen rather than street thugs. This was a very organized industry. Eventually, Drug Enforcement Agents were able to make contact with Saltiel-Cohen himself, and were able to locate him and arrest him.
The Mexican Media dubbed him the Narco Vet as a result of his arrest and conviction, and due to this major bust, the flow of Mexican Anabolic Steroids into the United States was in large part shut down. Drug officials found that most of the websites that were selling illegal Steroids to users in the United States either stopped production altogether or greatly scaled back their distribution.
Steroid buyers felt the pinch as well, as prices for Illegal Testosterone skyrocketed and users found it far more difficult to acquire. DEA officials had a list of more than two thousands names of buyers and distributors of Black Market Testosterone directly resulting from this investigation.
The Implications of Operation Meat Grinder
Even though Operation Meat Grinder was found to be a great success by American Law Enforcement Officials, it does seem to have created a power vacuum that other drug sellers in Mexico are beginning to fill, and the drug trade slowly began to increase again in the years after Operation Meat Grinder. One major issue is that Black Market Steroid Manufacturers started to become more prevalent within the United States and among Southeast Asian countries, in addition to the Mexican Drug manufacturers which were beginning to reincorporate.
Another major issue that resulted from this landmark bust was that the Steroids and Steroid Ingredients that were entering Mexico and the United States were much more likely to be poor quality than they once were, and one of the biggest arguments by American representatives who believe in Steroid Legalization is that the further Black Market Anabolic Steroids are driven underground, the more dangers and issues will prevail on the quality control side of things. The Steroids being sold will become more likely to be tainted and dangerous than they once were.
The bust of these Mexican Steroid laboratories by United States law enforcement officials was dubbed Operation Meat Grinder. The goal of Operation Meant Grinder was to shut down every Black Market Anabolic Steroid Drug Manufacturing Laboratory in Mexico. It was widely believed that if they accomplished this goal, it would put a major dent in the distributed supply of Black Market Anabolic Steroids entering the United States on a daily basis.
The Steroids sold by these Mexican companies for the most part were Animal Steroids which were intended for livestock use. The two main counts in which the United States arrested individuals affiliated with this drug trafficking ring was with counts of conspiracy to launder money obtained by illicit acts and conspiracy to distribute anabolic Steroids.
Dr. Alberto Saltiel-Cohen: Veterinary Steroid Kingpin
In Operation Meat Grinder, Drug Enforcement Agency officials started a website named bio-power-meds.com, pretending to be a link between Mexican Drug manufacturers and American drug buyers. This website netted numerous leads both with Illicit Steroid Buyers and Sellers on both sides of the border. The two websites which produced the most significant leads were two sites mexicanSteroidsales.com and anabolicsclub.com.
With some investigation, officers discovered that a veterinarian named Alberto Saltiel-Cohen was responsible for the distribution of Anabolic Steroids sold on these two websites. The companies through which he manufactured and distributed Anabolic Steroids were known as Quality Vet, Denkall, and Animal Power. Undercover DEA agents negotiated sales and ordered them to be sent to a post office box. Through this arrangement, DEA officials were able to track or seize some 360,000 doses of illegal Steroids. Drug Enforcement Agents tracked these individual transactions in order to gain information needed to make arrests.
Drug Enforcement Agents used smart phones to email their suspects back and forth and arrange sales. Officers quickly discovered that these individuals were not who you would stereotypically imagine to be illegal drug dealers. They were high-end professionals and spoke like businessmen rather than street thugs. This was a very organized industry. Eventually, Drug Enforcement Agents were able to make contact with Saltiel-Cohen himself, and were able to locate him and arrest him.
The Mexican Media dubbed him the Narco Vet as a result of his arrest and conviction, and due to this major bust, the flow of Mexican Anabolic Steroids into the United States was in large part shut down. Drug officials found that most of the websites that were selling illegal Steroids to users in the United States either stopped production altogether or greatly scaled back their distribution.
Steroid buyers felt the pinch as well, as prices for Illegal Testosterone skyrocketed and users found it far more difficult to acquire. DEA officials had a list of more than two thousands names of buyers and distributors of Black Market Testosterone directly resulting from this investigation.
The Implications of Operation Meat Grinder
Even though Operation Meat Grinder was found to be a great success by American Law Enforcement Officials, it does seem to have created a power vacuum that other drug sellers in Mexico are beginning to fill, and the drug trade slowly began to increase again in the years after Operation Meat Grinder. One major issue is that Black Market Steroid Manufacturers started to become more prevalent within the United States and among Southeast Asian countries, in addition to the Mexican Drug manufacturers which were beginning to reincorporate.
Another major issue that resulted from this landmark bust was that the Steroids and Steroid Ingredients that were entering Mexico and the United States were much more likely to be poor quality than they once were, and one of the biggest arguments by American representatives who believe in Steroid Legalization is that the further Black Market Anabolic Steroids are driven underground, the more dangers and issues will prevail on the quality control side of things. The Steroids being sold will become more likely to be tainted and dangerous than they once were.