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Demise of a Legendary Doping Empire
By Cathrin Gilbert
For years, the underground firm International Pharmaceuticals supplied athletes around the world with the latest performance-enhancing drugs, helping it attain cult status in the doping scene and make millions. Now investigators have raided the firm's headquarters in a German village. Its customers apparently included a number of top athletes whose iden****** could now be revealed.
The day senior customs inspector Peter S. would make the discovery of his life began with a "trip to the enemy." That's how officials at the Kaiserslautern Customs Investigation Unit describe the drive to a raid.
The men had been chasing a phantom for years, but this time they were sure that they were on the right track.
At about 1:00 p.m. the investigators, accompanied by officers with the Central Customs Support Group, reached Nidda-Wallernhausen, a village with a population of 1,100 in the German state of Hesse, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of the city of Giessen. Their navigation system directed the unit to a street called Fussgasse. The men got out of their vehicles in front of a white warehouse with a long roof. They were dressed in plain clothes to avoid attracting attention.
It took the special unit a while to open the door to the warehouse, but when the officers finally entered the building they could hardly believe their eyes. It was filled with stacks of brown cardboard boxes, as well as yellow and white garbage bags, all filled with tablets, capsules and ampules. The warehouse contained a cache of illegal anabolic steroids, small bottles containing the calf-fattening drug clenbuterol and cartons imprinted with product names like "Extreme Power Tabs" and "Special Product No. 25222."
The abbreviation IP also appeared on many of the cartons. The letters stand for International Pharmaceuticals -- the phantom firm the investigators were chasing.....
http://www.spiegel.de/international/...744401,00.html
More story on the link above.
By Cathrin Gilbert
For years, the underground firm International Pharmaceuticals supplied athletes around the world with the latest performance-enhancing drugs, helping it attain cult status in the doping scene and make millions. Now investigators have raided the firm's headquarters in a German village. Its customers apparently included a number of top athletes whose iden****** could now be revealed.
The day senior customs inspector Peter S. would make the discovery of his life began with a "trip to the enemy." That's how officials at the Kaiserslautern Customs Investigation Unit describe the drive to a raid.
The men had been chasing a phantom for years, but this time they were sure that they were on the right track.
At about 1:00 p.m. the investigators, accompanied by officers with the Central Customs Support Group, reached Nidda-Wallernhausen, a village with a population of 1,100 in the German state of Hesse, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of the city of Giessen. Their navigation system directed the unit to a street called Fussgasse. The men got out of their vehicles in front of a white warehouse with a long roof. They were dressed in plain clothes to avoid attracting attention.
It took the special unit a while to open the door to the warehouse, but when the officers finally entered the building they could hardly believe their eyes. It was filled with stacks of brown cardboard boxes, as well as yellow and white garbage bags, all filled with tablets, capsules and ampules. The warehouse contained a cache of illegal anabolic steroids, small bottles containing the calf-fattening drug clenbuterol and cartons imprinted with product names like "Extreme Power Tabs" and "Special Product No. 25222."
The abbreviation IP also appeared on many of the cartons. The letters stand for International Pharmaceuticals -- the phantom firm the investigators were chasing.....
http://www.spiegel.de/international/...744401,00.html
More story on the link above.