Memoirs of a Steroid Kingpin, Episode 02: “BD Supplements”

My new inventory came in. I was getting nervous. I hadn’t told anyone what I was doing, not even my best friends.

In 2003, one of my best friends attended Cornell University. He had a Chinese steroid source bestowed upon him by a friend, which he, in turn, bestowed upon me, because he had very high aspirations for himself that did not include being a local steroid dealer. Therefore, he did not think about protecting this commodity in order to monopolize an entire area in the anabolic steroid trade. He had ordered from this source a couple times, and stood by the account that the product was received by mail and was of good quality. Little did he know at the time, he had just handed me a gold mine that I would use to shape the rest of my life. This Chinese source was going to become one of the most prolific steroid sources in the world. Just like that, only I had it.

This Chinese source was going to become one of the most prolific steroid sources in the world.

At this time, my close friends and I were scared to have anything mailed to our domiciles. We didn’t know much about it, but myth and conjecture made us afraid to receive anything in the mail. I knew some people who ordered from overseas every few months, but their sources were nowhere near as valuable an asset as this source. My plan was to ask one of these acquaintances if I could have products shipped to their house. I just needed to figure out who to enjoin, because I was going to have to provide them with the source, on the condition that their house is used to receive mailed products from China, we make orders together, and we essentially become partners in the local steroid trade. A friend of mine that sold steroids was the first I considered. The problem with him was, he had sold steroids to my friends and I for very high prices, it was basically extortion, and that made me resentful. The next person, Dom, was a dealer that was more of an acquaintance than a friend, but he gave everyone fair prices, he was an amiable guy, so I chose him. One day I pulled him aside, told him I had an incredible source, and told him I would provide it to him if we could use his house to receive packages, pool our orders together, and essentially become partners in the steroid trade. He was quick to accept.

My plan was to ask one of these acquaintances if I could have Chinese steroids shipped to their house.

Dom and I became fast friends. We became inseparable. We saw each other more than we saw our girlfriends. If we were women, our periods would have synced. We collaborated on prices, undercut every other dealer in the area, and monopolized the local steroid trade. Almost everyone in the city now went through us to buy steroids. Again, it was a small city, so we didn’t have too many clients, and we were still pretty poor. But if people wanted help looking and feeling their best, they knew where to come, and it earned us a lot of respect.

When I came home from the inpatient rehab in 2010, I soon realized that Dom had stepped up his cocaine game. He had found a good cocaine source that was fronting him multiple ounces at a time, and Dom, in turn, would front to others at a profit. He had learned how to cut the product and repress it so it looked like it came right from the Cartel and was pure. In all honesty, it was garbage, but he was selling a lot of it. Dom was suddenly making really good money, and he welcomed me home from rehab with open arms. We got back to hanging out, and he fronted me whatever I needed to get back on my feet.

After a while, I became aware, and others did too, that Dom wasn’t around too much and was hard to contact. Once out of rehab, I had refrained from using drugs or alcohol, but Dom was using too much of his own product. He was getting high on his own supply. A monkey can’t sell bananas. All of Dom’s clients, knowing the close nature of our relationship, began coming to me for steroids. Many times, I couldn’t get ahold of Dom myself to ask if this was okay. In the past, when Dom was unavailable to sell to his clients, he asked me to tender a sale on his behalf. So, I started selling steroids to his clients. Because of this, I started to put away a bankroll, and I had a healthy inventory of steroids.

Once out of rehab, I had refrained from using drugs or alcohol, but Dom was using too much of his own product.

Dom’s cocaine venture wasn’t doing so well anymore. He made the myopic mistake of cutting his coke to generate a higher short-term revenue, but he had shitty coke, and after a while, no one wanted it anymore. One day, Dom came over to my house so I could front him some steroids. I was so trusting, and so enamored with our close relationship, that I showed him where I kept my stash in the event he ever needed something and I was not around, or something happened to me. You know what happened next. I came home one night to grab something, and my whole stash was gone. I almost had a heart attack. He tried to hide it, but it was confirmed later – that mother fucker robbed me. He rationalized that it was because I took all his customers. But that wasn’t it. Every one of his friends had noticed that Dom’s recent behavior had been disgraceful and dishonorable, as he spiraled toward ignominy. He had no more money, no more hope, and he didn’t know what else to do. So, he played the short-term game and made a quick score that he thought he could get away with. Had he asked me, I would have helped with money, with product, with anything he needed – just like he had helped me. He couldn’t see the long-term game of creating value for himself, helping people, and securing loyal relationships. Those are the attributes that create long term social and monetary success. Consequently, he lost everyone’s trust, and everyone’s respect. That stash was worth about five grand; it was about all I had to my name.

That’s why, this time, I was going at it alone, and no one was going to know what I was doing.

Well…. That was most of the reason I was going at this endeavor alone and without a partner this time. Another reason that circumstances manifested this way was because I did not think this was a big deal. I didn’t keep my friends abreast of every marketing decision, or every new client I tried to obtain. I was just trying something, and it may, or may not, yield a few more clients. Not a big deal.

The modus operandi to become a source on the Internet was quite simple.

The modus operandi to become a source on this website, at the time, was quite simple. You login under a source name, go to the “sources” section, and they actually allowed potential sources to enter their information in a text-based format. Sources would get their own page on this website, enter a brief description of who they were (no identifying information, of course), an accompanying list of products with prices, contact, and payment information. Under each source’s text-based list of information was a chat forum used for reviews, questions, and answers. This was a better system than anything that currently existed, because now you could read hundreds of reviews for a source before you purchased to make sure the products would be received, the products weren’t fake, and that the products were of high quality.

I had spent some time creating the text and list of products and prices that I would list. Now to come up with a name. In the early to late 2000’s, only a few major brands dominated the steroid market. Most people wouldn’t touch any steroid outside those major brand names. My Chinese source, I later discovered, was called International Pharmaceuticals (IP), which was not one of these major brand names. There was a company out of Thailand called British Dragon. British Dragon was a massive underground operation that dominated the steroid black market from 1999-2008. Their pink, Thai, pentagon shaped D-Bol pills were the most prolific symbol of black-market steroids in the world for a decade. In 2008, founders of British Dragon were arrested, jailed, and one committed suicide. The British Dragon name was so legendary, that International Pharmaceuticals started making British Dragon labels, and slapping them on their products. By 2010, people knew about the demise of British Dragon, and knew that the new British Dragon was a rebranded product after 2008, but it was still a quality anabolic steroid, so nobody cared. I had access to a brand that had a good name, and I was paying lower prices than almost anyone. Therefore, I decided to call my company BD Supplements.

I had access to a rebranded British Dragon. Therefore, I decided to call my company BD Supplements.

One of the most prevalent fears of any anabolic steroid buyer was that their source was a fraud, or the product was fake. Decades of fraud and counterfeiters had created an ethos of mass anxiety regarding the legitimacy of every source and every product. People were so paranoid about the legitimacy of steroid products that even the mention of an offer to sell a product invariably elicited a vehement obloquy regarding the validity of the brand and the validity of the source. This is why the key to success in the black market has everything to do with branding and viability. As hostile and castigating as black-market steroid users can be, once trust is proven with fast delivery and quality products, they are also a very loyal and allegiant group of people.

Right about the same time I had decided to post as a source on this website, a long time and well-respected member of the website had also decided to post as a source. He stated that after being a long-time member of the forum, he thought he could adequately and safely serve the people’s needs, and he just hoped to make a little extra money. Respect goes a long way with this demographic, and because he was a well-liked long-time member on this forum, he was immediately inundated with orders. Slowly, people started to query where their orders were. He had excuses and assured everyone that the orders would be coming. More people ordered. Shortly, after no one received their orders, the invectives and the acrimony began. The long time, well-respected member finally retorted, essentially telling everyone to fuck off, and “thanks for new car assholes!”

Great. This wasn’t a good time to become a source. When something like this happens, people won’t trust anybody. Whatever. I intended to post as a source anyway.

I had my inventory, I had opened a fresh Yahoo email account under the name BDsupplements, I created a new username and profile, BDSuppements, on the steroid source forum, and I was prepared with some shipping materials. I sat down at my computer, hands sweaty, went to the source section where I could click a button reading “Become A Source” that would allow me to post my list in text format, and… Where the hell was the “Become A Source” button? The “Become A Source” button was gone. I spent an hour looking for it, to no avail? What had happened to it? I knew it was there. What the hell was going on? Well, there goes that idea, I thought. Damn. I had spent all my money on inventory. It was going take me a long time to sell all of that product. On second thought, there was a section in the forum intended for introductions, where new members were encouraged to introduce themselves. I thought about posting my list of products and prices there until I could figure out how to post in the source section. I went to the “Introduction” section, copy/pasted my list of products, prices, and email address.

I stared at the screen. I knew it would take a while for people to respond. I moved to accomplish some other tasks for a little over an hour. I came back to see if anyone had commented, and my post was gone. At this time, especially on this forum where a big scam had just taken place, people became angry when someone new tried to join the group and sell products. Acrimony and vituperative came from more than a few members.

One guy had stated: “You are going to get banned”. I didn’t even know what that meant. Why would I get banned?

“You are going to get banned”. I didn’t even know what that meant. Why would I get banned?

An Avatar with the title “Moderator” had taken my post down and stated: “You are not allowed to attempt to sell any products until you become an approved source”.

I did not even know what that meant. There were more comments from members laughing and making fun of me for attempting to post as a source in the “Introduction” section. I sent the Moderator a message, explaining to him that I no longer saw the “Become A Source” button, and I questioned him on how to become an approved source. He responded, and told me I had to talk to the Administrator of the site; the one who had the respect of the hundreds of thousands of members on this source forum, and the one I would find out was the founder and creator of this site. I sent him a message asking what I needed to do to become an approved source.

While I waited for a response, I decided to check the BDSupplements email I had created for this little venture. When I opened the email account, I saw three new emails awaiting me to open them.

Next >> Episode 03 (Make It Happen)

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Memoirs of a Steroid Kingpin (Table of Contents)

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Ryan’s Root’s real-life autobiographical story is a must-read account of his rise and fall as one of the largest anabolic steroid dealers on the Internet.

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