China launches probe into steroid factories
BEIJING (AFP) — China's cabinet has launched a probe into charges that Chinese factories are supplying illegal US laboratories with the raw materials to make anabolic steroid, state media reported Friday.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Monday in Washington it had smashed the biggest illegal steroid ring in US history following a two-year investigation.
It said 37 factories in China had supplied 26 underground steroid labs that were raided last week, resulting in more than 50 arrests.
China's State Council, or cabinet, has set up a team of investigators to probe the allegations, an official from the sports ministry told the official Xinhua news agency.
"We are actively looking into this," Jiang Zhixue, a top official at the ministry, was quoted as saying.
China, which is staging the Olympic Games in Beijing next year, was taking the allegations seriously and was prepared to shut down factories, according to Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
"It is very early in the investigation so nobody is certain what the facts are," said Pound, who is visiting Beijing.
"The Chinese take it seriously and will continue to cooperate. And if they find there are any illegal activities here in China I am sure they will act appropriately to close them down," Pound told a press conference after discussing the probe with top Chinese officials during his week-long visit to Beijing.
China has pledged to stage a clean Olympics and Pound said that the anti-doping set-up would be the best ever seen at an Olympics.
"As for drug testing during the Games, you can assume it will be the best," said Pound.
"Whether the Games will be clean, I don't know. That depends on the cheats. But if they come and they are filled with drugs, we will find them."
Anabolic steroids boost muscle mass and are popular mainly with bodybuilders and athletes seeking an unfair competitive edge. Famous cases of steroid abuse include Canadian Ben Johnson, who was caught after winning the 100m title at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
During a visit here last year, Pound also raised the issue of illegal Chinese suppliers of performance enhancing drugs, who often offer their merchandise for sale over the Internet.
DEA agents said that 99.9 percent of all steroids produced at underground laboratories in the United States were made from raw materials imported from China.
In February, DEA agents visited China with evidence concerning several factories that were allegedly producing steroid ingredients and asked for China's help in the probe. One of those factories has reportedly been shut down.
Pound said that China agreed to cooperate and has been doing so, although details about the investigation have not been fully disclosed.
"It (the investigation) is ongoing and it's early. The authorities have not, either here or in the US, divulged all the facts that they know," he said.
"It is clear that this particular investigation is international in scope and China is playing its part."
