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Thursday, March 24, 2005
By DOUGLASS CROUSE
STAFF WRITER
PEQUANNOCK - Interviews with several teenagers allegedly tied to a steroid distribution ring could yield additional charges as early as today, police said Wednesday.
For months, authorities say, ringleader Eric Makatics had anabolic steroids shipped to UPS boxes in Pequannock and Cedar Grove, then retrieved and split up the drugs for sale.
Police say his network of buyers included high school students but also branched beyond township borders.
In acquiring the drugs, the 21-year-old township man allegedly took advantage of a modern-day loophole: Steroids are illegal in the United States without a prescription but can be bought from foreign companies over the Internet.
Following a two-year investigation, police arrested Makatics and two other township residents during a vehicle stop on March 1, seizing a mail package containing 100 glass vials of steroids, Detective Lt. Daniel Dooley said. Also arrested was Vincent Pignatiello Jr., 19, a former high school football player, and a high school student charged as a juvenile.
Other high school students could face charges this week, Dooley said. He added that the ring's customer base extended to other towns but declined to say which. Investigators are looking into whether any sales took place on high school property.
"Right now, there's no indication that [Makatics] was sitting outside the school and targeting students," Dooley said.
Pequannock High School Principal Richard Garibell did not return calls for comment.
More than 500,000 teenagers use steroids or some other performance-enhancing drug, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
A simple Internet search for anabolic steroids turns up dozens of Web sites selling the drugs. Many operate out of China, Mexico or other countries with looser drug laws. Police have declined to say where the Pequannock drugs came from.
Many users mistakenly believe steroids will make them better athletes without side effects, said Victor Naumov, a New Milford chiropractor who speaks about the health risks of steroids through his National Coalition for the Advancement of Drug-Free Athletics.
"Steroids may increase your size and strength and speed but they will not improve skills" such as hand-eye coordination and balance, he said.
Some of the teenagers being questioned this week are athletes, but not all, Dooley said. In 2003, a high school student charged with steroid possession said getting muscles fast was his aim. He recently told police Makatics had sold him the drugs, Dooley said.
"His answer at the time was he wasn't doing it for sports enhancement. He was using it to look good," Dooley said.
Makatics, who lost his driver's license last year for possessing drugs in a motor vehicle, relied on teenagers to drive him to Cedar Grove to pick up the packages, Dooley said. In return, the teens typically would receive cash or drugs, police said.
Police found another package at the Cedar Grove Post Office earlier this week, which they said contained similar drug materials.
Teenagers who simply drove Makatics to the post office likely will not be charged as long as they cooperate with investigators, Dooley said. Pignatiello, who lives across the street from Makatics, was charged with possession and intent to distribute drugs.
Neither man could be reached for comment.
Makatics likely will face additional charges of employing juveniles in a drug distribution network. He is currently free after posting $10,000 bail, while Pignatiello was released on his own recognizance to his family.
In 2003, police began tracking the ring's activities after getting a tip about an Internet-based shipping scheme in town. Makatics eventually caught on and moved his post office box out of town to evade police, Dooley said.
A drug bust in Boston two months ago put police back on the trail. Investigators with the U.S. Postal Inspector's Office started sharing information between Boston and Pequannock, which led local police back to Makatics' mailbox, police said.
Police said a search of Makatics' home turned up more steroids, prescription drugs, packaging supplies, fireworks and hypodermic needles. Police also seized his home computer, which they believe he used to buy the drugs online.
Last week, members of Congress grilled several professional baseball players about steroid use. And in last year's Olympic games in Athens, two dozen athletes were thrown out after missing drug tests or testing positive for steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.