Brian Wainstein, the owner of the once-thriving Axio Labs and GenXXL Gear brands of anabolic steroids, was finally arrested in South Africa on January 19, 2013 after eluding international authorities for several years. The United States Department of Justice submitted an extradition request to bring Wainstein back to the States to face multiples counts of steroid distribution. The U.S. and South Africa have an Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in place. Wainstein’s defense attorney has vowed to vigorously fight the extradition request.
“We were well aware of the charges coming and we’re prepared to fight them,” Wainstein’s attorney Brett Carnegie said. “We have briefed advocates to contest the extradition vigorously.”
Many international sources that operate outside the United States have a false sense of security. The war on steroids has become more aggressive as more and more money is spent investigating international sources. These sources shouldn’t forget that the long arm of U.S. steroid law enforcement has the ability to reach across international borders and bring major anabolic steroid dealers back to the U.S. for prosecution.
Edwin Richard Crawley and Ashley Vincent Livingston (British Dragon) were arrested in Thailand and extradited to the U.S. seveal years ago. In 2011, Oleksandr “Alex” Skochyk and Yvgeniy “Eugene” Suray (Musclebear) were also extradited from Cyprus.
Some steroid sources have successfully thwarted U.S. extradition requests. Last year, Mihael Karner paid the Austrian government one million euros to escape extradition.
Wainstein obviously wants to find a way to avoid the fate of British Dragon and Musclebear.
Wainstein is best known for his elusiveness from law enforcement and the resilience of Axio Labs and GenXXL. Wainstein’s steroid operations have been busted on no less that three occasions during the past decade. Wainstein was busted in Ireland in 2003. Wainstein’s second-in-command Glenn England was busted in Canada in 2006. Wainstein’s European distribution network for Axio Labs was busted in Cyprus, France and Germany in 2010. Each and every time Wainstein resurrected the brand. He only spent four months in jail for the 2003 bust .
Wainstein, a dual citizen in South Africa and Israel, was wanted by law enforcement in the United States, Canada and Germany. He was on Interpol’s wanted list. Yet, he evaded authorities for several years up until his January 2013 arrest in South Africa.
U.S. prosecutors alleged that Wainstain’s anabolic steroid distribution operation generated gross proceeds of approximately $8.6 million between December 2004 and October 2008. According to the Sunday Times newspaper, federal prosecutors in the U.S. have charged Wainstein with multiple counts involving the distribution and smuggling of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone in a sealed federal indictment.
Wainstein and his attorney hope to squash the extradition request. Will Wainstein’s luck finally run out?
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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