Kingpin of steroids sales now pushing supplements
The man at the centre of New Zealand sport’s biggest steroid ring has a new online venture.
The man at the centre of New Zealand sport’s biggest steroid ring is preparing to set up a new online venture peddling health supplements.
In 2017 Joshua Townshend was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment after being convicted of 129 offences under the Medicines Act, stemming from his large-scale online steroids operation. Townshend was mixing, packaging and selling clenbuterol and other anabolic steroids from his Christchurch home.
The unravelling of Townshend’s enterprise resulted in a landmark investigation for Drug Free Sport NZ (DFSNZ). More than 100 people potentially bound by sport’s anti-doping rules were initially identified as having bought steroids through the website.
Townshend has now set up a new company, Eukora Health, spruiking vitamins and supplements. The company was registered in November last year, six months after his release from prison. Townshend is listed as the sole director.
Medsafe, the medical regulatory body which instigated the investigation into Townshend’s black-market steroid operation, declined to comment on his latest venture, but in a statement issued a blanket warning about online retailers.
‘‘Consumers and sports people should be aware that websites can be very deceptive about the legality of their operation, where they are located and the quality of their products,’’ a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.
DFSNZ also cautions against the use of supplements. Corporate services manager John Williams says the anti-doping agency’s advice to all sports people is that supplements are best avoided altogether.
‘‘Supplements are a very risky area. They can be contaminated with prohibited substances either deliberately or inadvertently in the manufacturing process,’’ Williams says.
‘‘Given that there isn’t really a universal quality standard for manufacturing of supplements and labelling and so on, if we’re importing these supplements it is difficult to know what sort of rigour has been behind the manufacturing process.’’
But Townshend says he is working with the appropriate regulatory bodies, including the ministry, to ensure his business meets all the legal and ethical obligations before it launches. He adds he intends to source all products from Good Management Practice-approved facilities.
Given his history, Townshend acknowledges that people may be sceptical of his new venture.
‘‘I’m always going to be heavily scrutinised now, and I need to make sure this business functions legally,’’ he says.
‘‘I never fully considered the health or legal implications of what I was doing, on myself or others, until after I was stopped. I wouldn’t do it again, but I understand the supplement industry well enough to attempt a legitimate business in the field.’’
Townshend says if his business is successfully launched, his products will not be targeted towards the fitness industry, but rather at helping people in recovery from substance dependency issues.
‘‘I aim to naturally help people restore normal function after extended periods of high stress, not provide anything over and above that.’’
His downfall in 2017 came after multiple shipment seizures and warnings from Medsafe.
Townshend, who started out selling steroids among his peer group in 2009 before expanding his operations, says he was aware on some level of the consequences of his actions, but he ‘‘minimised and normalised’’ what he was doing.
Court documents indicate it was estimated Townshend supplied more than 2000 10ml bottles of the performance-enhancing drug clenbuterol, which is marketed for its weight-loss properties, and 2400 units of other medicines, primarily 10ml vials of anabolic steroids for injection, over a year.
Medsafe told the court the products Townshend sold were not of a pharmaceutical standard, putting the public’s health at serious risk.
His case garnered further public attention when DFSNZ gained access to his customer records, leading to a doping investigation unprecedented in scale in New Zealand.
The investigation has had a far-reaching impact on New Zealand sport and the administration of anti-doping rules in this country. To date, 37 athletes have been sanctioned, with bans ranging from two to four years. Many are still serving out their bans, while one case is headed all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
‘‘I was running an irresponsible and dangerous business for my own benefit, and I deserved to be held to account for my actions,’’ says Townshend.
‘‘I never considered that I could lose everything and go to prison, nor did I consider the impact on all these promising athletes – for that, I am truly sorry to their families, partners, coaches and all those who supported their careers.’’
‘‘I never considered that I could lose everything and go to prison.’’ Joshua Townshend