They broke up an organization that traded with EPO for athletes after the biggest seizure in Europe

The Civil Guard, within the framework of the operation Hypoxianet, has dismantled a supposedly criminal organization dedicated to trafficking with Erythropoietin (EPO) for athletes nationally and internationally and more than 850 injectables have been intervened, which is the largest seizure carried out in Europe of this type of EPO.

The operation has been developed in the provinces of Barcelona and Cdiz after information received from the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sports (Aepsad) in which it was indicated that several athletes may be accessing this type of doping substances by buying through the internet.

Thus, six people in these provinces have been arrested and / or investigated for the alleged crimes against public health, belonging to criminal organization, money laundering, misappropriation, fraud against Social Security and documentary falsehood, as reported by the Civil Guard it's a statement.

Agents identified at least seven websites offering different anabolic steroid products without any type of sanitary control, as is the case of the www.epobest.com site, which has been intervened in the same way as the rest of the pages.

From the Civil Guard they have explained the difficulty for investigators, “since all domains were housed in pass servers like Iceland or tax havens like New Jersey, whose legislation is more permissive as far as web hosting is concerned. ”

These websites were aimed at potential national and international clients, in multiple languages ​​and currencies, in which various types of medications such as hormones and steroids are offered. Some were dedicated exclusively to the sale of EPO, in which it was indicated that the said hormone was sent from Spain.

Currently the study and analysis of important volume of information obtained after the final phase of the investigation in computers, telephones, electronic mails and current accounts based in Austria, Slovakia and Cyprus, whose result will be obtained a wide list of possible final consumers.

The Civil Guard has detailed that among them it is expected that there is a large number of national and international athletes, from different disciplines and levels, that access these doping substances in order to increase their physical abilities.

So far, more than 800,000 euros in different bank accounts and real estate / personal property, finding more than 70,000 euros in cash in the records made.

According to the Civil Guard, the network maintains several web pages hosted on servers in foreign countries and registered with false identities, in which the products are offered.

To facilitate communication between buyer and seller encrypted instant messenger networks were used Through an Austrian telephone number, which was operated from Spain and the disjointed organization, as Benemrita added, it then facilitated several payments to make payments, through money-sending companies, bank transfers to international checking accounts, or by cryptocurrencies to facilitate their anonymity.

Until here the network was operated by several citizens of Serbian nationality, one of them based in Barcelona and, for the obtaining of the EPO, the organization was served by another cell formed by Spanish citizens who extract the medicines of the Spanish legal circuit, through a Cdiz dilisis clinic. These medications “were highly appreciated by customers, as they are original drugs, always within the expiration dates,” they explained.

Once the medication was stolen from the clinic, they accumulated in a warehouse until, finally, they were sent to buyers. Thus, in this clinic more than 850 pre-filled EPO syringes (among other medicines) have been apprehended, without the proper conditions of preservation or temperature, which is the largest seizure made in Europe of this type of EPO, said the Guard Civil.

In your submissions, the EPO was accompanied by cold plates, whose thermal inertia was insufficient until its arrival at destination but gave a false appearance of pharmaceutical safety to the business.

Depending on the national or international destination, the organization will send the doping substances using various messenger companies.

According to the Civil Guard, the functions of the investigated were defined depending on the country of origin of the orders, sending them from Cdiz or from Barcelona in each case. In this way, the role that each component played in the network was differentiated, “which greatly increased the security of illegal activities.”

The payments between the components of the criminal group were made in hand and in cash “to hinder the traceability of the related funds”.

Erythropoietin (EPO) was obtained by one of the members of the group in Cdiz, taking advantage of his condition as responsible for a dilisis clinic and falsifying the data necessary for the realization of the orders in the records of the patients of the clinic, staying With the surplus.

This activity will have been carried out since at least the last ten years, although it is still pending completion of the analysis and study of all the information collected in order to determine the total amount defrauded to the Social Security, which is assumed to be high, not only for that long period in which the organization has operated, but for the significant volume of orders they have had.

A first data, provided by the Inspection dependent on the Minister of Health of the Junta de Andaluca, indicates that only in the period from January 2016 to June 2019, the containers diverted to the black market will amount to 5,103 in different presentations, highlighting in number those of high concentration (8,000 and 10,000 international units).

The Civil Guard has also reported that medicines were sent throughout Europe using messenger, documentation and false identities. Likewise, several current accounts that the organization used for the channeling of the benefits obtained by the illegal activity have been investigated.

Some of the websites were created and directed directly to potential clients in Germany, Italy or France, although translations in almost all the languages ​​of the European Union could be chosen.

This operation, coordinated by the Court of Instruction No. 4 of Cdiz and the Provincial Treasury, has been carried out by agents belonging to the Public Health and Doping Section of the Central Operating Unit of the Civil Guard.

They have also had the collaboration of police forces from different countries, with the coordination of Europol, with the participation and collaboration of the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sports (Aepsad), the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps), the Sub-Directorate of Health Services Inspection of the Minister of Health and Families of the Junta de Andaluca and the Directorate in Spain of the company that owns the Research Clinic investigated.

Likewise, contacts have been maintained with other European Agencies through other working groups and international forums in which the Central Operating Unit of the Civil Guard participates, such as the PFIPC (Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime) and the WGEO (Working Group of Enforcement Officers), both related to illicit drug trafficking at European and World level.