Trainer Brothers Selling Unauthorized Steroids... Hair Loss While Trying to Build Muscle

Health trainer brothers who manufactured unauthorized steroid drugs and sold them through SNS and other channels were arrested and indicted on the 3rd.

The Food and Drug Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Hye-young) announced that they have arrested and indicted health trainers Mr. A (38, older brother) and Mr. B (36, younger brother) on charges including violation of the Special Act on the Control of Health Crimes for manufacturing and selling unauthorized steroid drugs worth approximately 620 million KRW.

(This photo is not directly related to the article) [Photo by Getty Images Bank]

They are accused of manufacturing unauthorized steroid drugs and selling them to 1,031 people from August 2021 to November last year. Mr. A and others illegally imported anabolic steroid raw materials and packaging from China and manufactured unauthorized drugs in officetels and other locations.

The illegally produced steroid drugs were sold at 50,000 to 100,000 KRW per bottle. The total criminal proceeds amounted to 620 million KRW.

It was revealed that Mr. A has two prior convictions for similar crimes involving the manufacture and sale of counterfeit drugs.

From January 4 to November 23, 2022, there is also suspicion that approximately 450 million KRW from drug sales was received as online gift certificates through accounts under the names of Chinese nationals to disguise the acquisition of criminal proceeds.

To evade investigation, they used burner phones and online gift certificate payments and sold the drugs via parcel delivery based on social networking services (SNS), according to the investigation.

The prosecution stated, "The illegal steroid products seized in this case did not undergo strict pharmaceutical manufacturing processes such as adherence to proper dosage and sterile packaging, so their safety cannot be guaranteed," and urged, "If you have purchased these products, please do not use them under any circumstances."

Steroids used for muscle enhancement are called anabolic steroids, which promote protein absorption within cells to grow muscles. However, misuse or abuse can cause side effects such as erectile dysfunction, hair loss, depression, and suicidal impulses, so they are designated as controlled substances due to concerns about misuse and abuse.

Confiscated illegal steroid drugs.
[Photo by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety]

Meanwhile, as interest in a healthy physique has increased recently, cases of importing steroids through overseas direct purchase are also not uncommon. According to the online drug detection status by the Cyber Investigation Team of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety from February 2018 to June 2021, steroids accounted for the highest number of online drug detections, with 6,581 cases (39.2%) out of a total of 16,809 cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.