The Drug Enforcement Administration announced today an 18-month investigation into illegal steroids from China has resulted in 124 arrests over the last four days.

The DEA said that at the Operation Raw Deal, as it was called, participated nine foreign governments including China’s. The investigations led to the raiding of 56 laboratories in which the anabolic steroids and human growth hormone were manufactured.

The labs, in which authorities seized about 500 pounds of steroid and 1.4 million steroid dosage units over the last four days, were operating in locations like New York, San Diego, Kansas City, Houston and Providence.
 
The raw materials needed in the laboratories located in US and other countries to manufacture the performance-enhancing substances were shipped from more than 30 Chinese companies, officials stated.

"China really stepped up to the plate to help us in this investigation," DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney said in Washington.

The federal government seized hundreds of e-mails that linked users to the manufactures. However, DEA’s spokesman Rusty Payne said in a telephone interview that there are no athletes linked with the investigation yet.

“If we come across names, are we going to provide them to the leagues? That is going to be the decision of the Department of Justice and the United States attorney’s offices that have those aspects of the case,” Payne said.

News conferences by law enforcement officials were planned for San Diego, New York City, Houston, Kansas City and Providence.

The other countries which assisted the investigation besides China were Mexico, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Thailand. The FBI, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the National Drug Intelligence Center also participated at Operation Raw Deal.

This operation follows major steroid-linked scandals in the world of sports, from Major League Baseball to Tour de France.

Current holder of sport’s most highly ranked record - the home run record - San Francisco Giants’ slugger Barry Bonds has been tainted by allegations of steroid abuse.

Pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and young before hanging himself. Tests which followed his death revealed that Benoit had more than 10 times the normal level of testosterone in his body.