Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Police in the United States have sequestered massive quantities of human hormones and illegal steroids produced in China with a market value of over seven million dollars from 30 illegal laboratories in New York.  The products, which are banned if not produced under the control of state health authorities, were destined for the athletes market.

During the operation police also sequestered 20 computers containing lists of a network of Chinese industries and American businessmen. Documents found during the raid show that the illegal trade had been going on for quite some time.  This confirms that China still tops the world list in performance enhancing drug production, on the rise ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In attempts to counter the trend, Beijing authorities have launched a campaign against drug use, which aims to “stop the illicit trade of prescription drugs that contain performance-enhancing substances”.  Despite this, experts forecast that the campaign will take a long time to have even the slightest effect, given the high demand for these products.

The illegal trade is based above all on Human Growth Hormones (HGH) banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration. The internet however, is proving impossible to police, allowing many athletes to easily obtain the drugs from Chinese laboratories, who produced them without any health checks.