King Kaufman's Sports Daily

The DEA pulls off the biggest illegal-steroid raid -- until the next one. Plus: Why no baseball?

Read more: Drugs, Sports, Baseball, War on Drugs, Football, NFL, Steroids, King Kaufman, Sports Daily

Sept. 25, 2007 | The big sports news is a massive drug raid, the biggest ever.

Sorry, I have that sentence saved as a macro and I hit the wrong key by accident. Oh wait! It works out after all!

The Drug Enforcement Administration says it has busted 56 labs, arrested 124 people and seized more than 11 million doses of illegal steroids and an additional 530 pounds in raw materials in "Operation Raw Deal," the largest illegal-steroid investigation in U.S. history.

The federal officials say the investigation began with Chinese companies that shipped the raw materials to labs in the United States, and followed all the way through to labs, distributors and users in the United States. A DEA spokesman told the New York Times that thousands of e-mails have been seized that connect users to manufacturers. He said the Department of Justice and U.S. attorney's offices would decide whether to release the names of any athletes that turn up.

Forgive me for not jumping for joy. It's just that the drug cops have been making busts like this one since the days of Eliot Ness, and there's no evidence that it does anybody any good, except the drug cops maybe, for whom it provides a living.

A couple of interesting quotes, the first from DEA administrator Karen Tandy, in a statement:

"Today we reveal the truth behind the underground steroid market: dangerous drugs cooked up all too often in filthy conditions with no regard to safety, giving Americans who purchase them the ultimate raw deal."

Not exactly a major revelation, that a market that's unregulated beyond criminalization doesn't protect the consumer.

But here's the money quote. It's the one that shows why the DEA will be issuing this same press release in 20 years, with just names, places and figures changed. Look! Massive steroid bust! We've really put a dent in the underground market!

It comes from the Times report on the bust, written by Michael S. Schmidt:

"Operation Raw Deal followed on the heels of an investigation in 2005 that targeted eight Mexican steroid manufacturers. After those manufacturers, which authorities said provided four out of every five steroid pills in the world, were shut down, a void was created in the market for performance-enhancing drugs that Chinese companies filled."

So congratulations to the DEA for cracking down on the Chinese steroid-manufacturing market -- which the DEA helped create! Wonder which country will fill the void this time.

Athletes and others who have been using illegal drugs should steel themselves for a knock on the door, and we don't need to waste any time feeling sorry for cheaters willing to sacrifice their health and future for that extra edge on the field of play, or in the gym mirror.

But we also shouldn't kid ourselves that massive drug raids do anything to address the massive drug problem.

Next page: What ever happened to baseball?