“Key Player” in Clandestine Steroid Lab Arrested in the Houston Area

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A “key player” in a Houston area anabolic steroid distribution ring was arrested as part of an ongoing investigation by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Houston Police Department’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas drug squad and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Matthew Emilio Montano was charged with felony Delivery of a Controlled Substance (Anabolic Steroids).

Montano had earlier sold 56 vials of anabolic steroids to an undercover officer in the parking lot of a Harris County shopping center. He was subsequently arrested at his parents’ house in The Woodlands (Texas).

Authorities believe Montano is linked to a large-scale clandestine underground laboratory (UGL) that manufacturers anabolic steroids from raw materials obtained from China and Mexico. The UGL was thought to supply steroids to individuals who work out at various gyms in the Houston area.

“It’s not a small-scale operation. They’re getting chemicals from Mexico and China… You don’t really know what you’re getting,” according to SIU Lieutenant Phillip Cash. “They’re making counterfeit labels to attach to bottles to make it appear these are manufactured in legitimate labs.

The same investigation busted a “Clandestine Laboratory” in November 2010 and seized a reported $100,000 worth of anabolic steroids and “growth hormones” in powder and liquid form. Investigators also seized glassware, electronic scales, heating elements, steroid “recipes” and other paraphernalia used in the manufacture of steroids. The press reports use the terms “growth hormones” and “anabolic steroids” interchangeably although it seems that the investigation primarily involves steroids.

Montano was being held without bail in the Harris County Jail as of Wednesday night.

Source:

Flake, N. (September 8, 2011). ‘Key player’ in steroid drug ring arrested in Montgomery County. Retrieved from http://www.yourhoustonnews.com