- Sep 17, 2003
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N.S. bodybuilding champion charged in steroid bust | The Chronicle Herald
UPDATED 7:54 p.m. Friday
A Nova Scotia champion bodybuilder has been charged with smuggling and trafficking steroids.
The charges against Greg Austin Doucette, 37, of Halifax are the result of a two-year criminal investigation that netted more than $250,000 worth of steroids and thousands of dollars in cash.
Greg Doucette
Canada Border Services Agency officials announced the charges Friday in Halifax, where seized drugs and cash were displayed for the media.
The items were found during a search of a residence, vehicle and storage locker, all within the Halifax area, the agency said.
Officers also seized empty pill bottles, labels, needles, gel caps, empty vials for liquid drugs and containers labelled as Cialis and Viagra, two drugs that are used to treat side-effects of steroid use, said the manager of the agency’s criminal investigations division.
Albert Price described a seizure of this amount as “quite rare” for the agency.
"We feel that this is a significant seizure and supplied obviously a lot of people," Price said during the news conference.
"The seizure resulted in 16,000 pills and over 800 vials, as well as hundreds of grams of raw product that would be turned into thousands of pills (and) $23,000 in cash."
Price said officials believe the products were all destined to be distributed in Atlantic Canada. They were labelled with the name Cypher Pharm of Houston, Tex.
The products originated in China, Thailand and the Philippines, he said.
"Our CBSA lab in Ottawa ... has shown they do have the active ingredients as advertised. Some of them are advertised on the label as Cialis or Viagra, but in fact they have the active ingredient but are not the trade product."
Price said the investigation began in July 2010 after steroids were intercepted at the Vancouver international mail centre.
The packages were all destined for Halifax.
Investigators linked the various Halifax-area addresses and names on the packages to one person, he said.
In addition to smuggling and trafficking charges, Doucette also faces charges of possessing, importing and distributing steroids.
The charges have all been laid under the Customs Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Doucette is scheduled to appear in Halifax provincial court on the charges next Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Doucette placed first in the men's bodybuilding overall category at a Nova Scotia Amateur Body Building Association contest, according to the association’s website.
In 2006, he set a record at the World Powerlifting Congress powerlifting and bench press championships in Idaho, lifting 228.5 kilograms in the 90–kilogram raw bench press event. In the same competition, Doucette also won best overall in the bench press, squat and dead lift, with a total of 791 kilograms.
On his home webpage, Doucette says he entered and won his first bodybuidling competition at 17.
UPDATED 7:54 p.m. Friday
A Nova Scotia champion bodybuilder has been charged with smuggling and trafficking steroids.
The charges against Greg Austin Doucette, 37, of Halifax are the result of a two-year criminal investigation that netted more than $250,000 worth of steroids and thousands of dollars in cash.
Greg Doucette
Canada Border Services Agency officials announced the charges Friday in Halifax, where seized drugs and cash were displayed for the media.
The items were found during a search of a residence, vehicle and storage locker, all within the Halifax area, the agency said.
Officers also seized empty pill bottles, labels, needles, gel caps, empty vials for liquid drugs and containers labelled as Cialis and Viagra, two drugs that are used to treat side-effects of steroid use, said the manager of the agency’s criminal investigations division.
Albert Price described a seizure of this amount as “quite rare” for the agency.
"We feel that this is a significant seizure and supplied obviously a lot of people," Price said during the news conference.
"The seizure resulted in 16,000 pills and over 800 vials, as well as hundreds of grams of raw product that would be turned into thousands of pills (and) $23,000 in cash."
Price said officials believe the products were all destined to be distributed in Atlantic Canada. They were labelled with the name Cypher Pharm of Houston, Tex.
The products originated in China, Thailand and the Philippines, he said.
"Our CBSA lab in Ottawa ... has shown they do have the active ingredients as advertised. Some of them are advertised on the label as Cialis or Viagra, but in fact they have the active ingredient but are not the trade product."
Price said the investigation began in July 2010 after steroids were intercepted at the Vancouver international mail centre.
The packages were all destined for Halifax.
Investigators linked the various Halifax-area addresses and names on the packages to one person, he said.
In addition to smuggling and trafficking charges, Doucette also faces charges of possessing, importing and distributing steroids.
The charges have all been laid under the Customs Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Doucette is scheduled to appear in Halifax provincial court on the charges next Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Doucette placed first in the men's bodybuilding overall category at a Nova Scotia Amateur Body Building Association contest, according to the association’s website.
In 2006, he set a record at the World Powerlifting Congress powerlifting and bench press championships in Idaho, lifting 228.5 kilograms in the 90–kilogram raw bench press event. In the same competition, Doucette also won best overall in the bench press, squat and dead lift, with a total of 791 kilograms.
On his home webpage, Doucette says he entered and won his first bodybuidling competition at 17.