Massive drug bust throughout Europe
A massive lawenforcement bust across Europe has resulted in the seizure of 24 tons of raw steroid powder and the closure of nine underground labs that produced performanceenhancing drugs and other illegal substances.
Europol said Monday that the operation, which included 33 countries and was led by national police forces in Italy and Greece, was the largest of its kind and led to the arrest of 234 people and the dismantling of 17 organizedcrime groups.
The World AntiDoping Agency also participated in the sting, which discovered a trafficking system in which nonprofessional athletes used rechargeable credit cards and cryptocurrencies to buy small amounts of illegal substances, much of which was moved through gyms and unregulated online pharmacies. Dealers used social media to advertise and promote their products.
“This is the sort of multiparty collaboration that produces real results and can make a significant impact on the availability of counterfeit and illegal drugs used by some athletes globally,” WADA intelligence director Gunther Younger said.
Officials said they carried out a combined 1,357 urine and blood tests at sports events as part of the operation, though no details were shared about which events or who was tested.
Nearly 1,000 individuals have been reported for producing, selling or using performance enhancers, and 839 judicial cases have been opened across Europe.
Public authorities have been taking an increasingly highprofile role in sports corruption cases. In October, the U.S. Justice Department charged Russian military intelligence officers in a wideranging case that included WADA and FIFA. Earlier in 2018, police in Austria raided the international biathlon federation’s offices in a case in which the agency’s president was accused of covering up Russian doping cases.
“So many of the busts that have happened in the sports world for doping recently have been possible (only) because police have wiretapping ability and other investigative powers that normal antidoping agencies and sports organizations don’t have,” said Max Cobb, president of the U.S. Biathlon. NHL: The Sharks have resigned forward Kevin Labanc to a oneyear contract. Labanc was a restricted free agent coming off the best season of his young career. The 23yearold registered 17 goals, 39 assists and 56 points and helped the Sharks reach the Western Conference finals.
Labanc will be expected to play more minutes after the freeagency departures of captain Joe Pavelski and fellow forwards Joonas Donskoi and Gustav Nyquist.
High school basketball: Archbishop MittySan Jose girls head coach Sue Phillips will be one of two coaches nationally to receive the Gatorade Coaching Excellence Award at a dinner in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Under Phillips, Mitty has earned 21 Central Coast Section, 12 Northern California and six state championships, with a national title win in 2018.