Padua, major seizure of performance-enhancing drugs: 60-year-old arrested with €300 in clandestine stash.

An operation of Flying Squad of the Padua Police Headquarters led to the arrest of a 60 year old Italian, formally resident in Bratislava but de facto domiciled in the province of Padua, already convicted in the past for trafficking in prohibited drugs.

The man was caught while giving in doping products to a 54-year-old bodybuilding enthusiast.

The intervention of the agents allowed to reconstruct a well-structured illicit system, which allowed to foresee the presence of a a real clandestine distribution network active in the area.

The stalking and the supply of the narcotic

The investigation began when the officers noticed the man coming out of a warehouse in Rismondo Street, carrying some suspicious packages, and quickly climb aboard a foreign station wagon.

His behavior aroused the suspicions of the police, who decided to follow him to a municipality in the province.

Here the 60-year-old met with a 54-year-old already known to the police, to whom he handed over a package he had just collected.

Stop both of them, the buyer immediately admitted to using anabolics, confirming that he had ordered the material a few days earlier for 150 euros.

The package contained six packs of methandrostenolone, nandrolone and testosterone, all banned doping substances.

The massive seizure: over 1500 packages in a clandestine warehouse

The search of the 60-year-old's vehicle revealed 15 more packs sealed with testosterone, anastrozole, oxandrolone, mesterolone, cabergoline and somatropin (growth hormone).

The most significant part of the operation, however, came with the search of the warehouse on Via Rismondo.

Inside, the officers found a real warehouse of doping substances, composed of:

• over 1500 packages of anabolic drugs and hormones

• products new and sealed, ready to be distributed

• material traceable to an international supply channel

• packages identical to those seized in the vehicle

The estimated value of the entire stock is approximately 300 thousand euros, destined for the black market of athletes.

The 60-year-old is no stranger to this type of crime: in 2005 he had been reported for receiving and selling prohibited drugs; in 2009 had been sentenced by the Court of Padua to 1 year and 8 months.

Despite his foreign residency, he effectively managed the trafficking directly from the province of Padua, using a hidden warehouse and traveling with foreign vehicles.

After the seizure of the material, the man was accompanied to the police station, identified and arrested in flagrante for illicit trade in doping substances, a crime provided for by anti-doping legislation for products capable of altering the psychophysical condition of athletes.

As ordered by the Prosecutor's Office, it was placed under house arrestDuring the validation hearing, the arrest was confirmed and the precautionary measure maintained.

The Flying Squad is now working to trace: to foreign suppliers of drugs; to the customer network, especially non-professional athletes and gym-goers; In the event of the presence of additional storage points.

The operation represents one of the largest seizures of doping drugs carried out in Veneto in recent years.