Tony T
03-26-2018, 07:19 AM
Interesting story (no cycling pro's mentioned):
NY Times
SPORTS OF THE TIMES
Alias Thomas Mann: Uncovering a Global Doping Network (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/sports/doping-thomas-mann-peptides.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news)
Investigators believe a man in Arizona was distributing performance-enhancing drugs on a massive, global scale, yet no charges have been filed. His clientele included pro athletes.
On Aug. 25, 2015, a Swiss postal inspector reached into the river of 300,000 parcels that pour into that nation every day and, for a routine inspection, plucked out two packages arriving from Arizona. Inspectors unwrapped them and found serried rows of bottles.
The bottles were suspected of containing performance-enhancing drugs, so they were shipped to an antidoping laboratory for testing. Chemists discovered three synthetic compounds that are illicit gold for cheating athletes. One sped the healing of tendons and ligaments. Another helped build muscle mass. A third stimulated the body to burn fat.
The Swiss authorities notified the organization in the United States that investigates sports doping, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and shared the return-address sticker. The packages were shipped by someone named Thomas Mann.
His name drew puzzled shrugs from Usada investigators. That name had never crossed their radar, and they could not find a home listing for someone with that name in their database in Arizona or anywhere else.
The name was then stored in the organization’s computer system and largely forgotten, until it resurfaced in a different context several months later, triggering an intense pursuit of Thomas Mann and an aggressive investigation of his enterprise that involved federal law enforcement as well as antidoping officials.
The existence of the investigation and its extraordinary findings have not been previously reported.
NY Times
SPORTS OF THE TIMES
Alias Thomas Mann: Uncovering a Global Doping Network (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/sports/doping-thomas-mann-peptides.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news)
Investigators believe a man in Arizona was distributing performance-enhancing drugs on a massive, global scale, yet no charges have been filed. His clientele included pro athletes.
On Aug. 25, 2015, a Swiss postal inspector reached into the river of 300,000 parcels that pour into that nation every day and, for a routine inspection, plucked out two packages arriving from Arizona. Inspectors unwrapped them and found serried rows of bottles.
The bottles were suspected of containing performance-enhancing drugs, so they were shipped to an antidoping laboratory for testing. Chemists discovered three synthetic compounds that are illicit gold for cheating athletes. One sped the healing of tendons and ligaments. Another helped build muscle mass. A third stimulated the body to burn fat.
The Swiss authorities notified the organization in the United States that investigates sports doping, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and shared the return-address sticker. The packages were shipped by someone named Thomas Mann.
His name drew puzzled shrugs from Usada investigators. That name had never crossed their radar, and they could not find a home listing for someone with that name in their database in Arizona or anywhere else.
The name was then stored in the organization’s computer system and largely forgotten, until it resurfaced in a different context several months later, triggering an intense pursuit of Thomas Mann and an aggressive investigation of his enterprise that involved federal law enforcement as well as antidoping officials.
The existence of the investigation and its extraordinary findings have not been previously reported.