Des Moines narcotics officers have raided an alleged steroid manufacturing operation in Urbandale, seizing more than 100 vials of liquid steroids.
Officials say the bust is likely to have an effect on bodybuilders at some of Iowa's gyms and fitness centers.
Taken into custody last weekend was Dale Douglas Kinkade, 31, of 12116 Ridgeview Drive in Urbandale. He is charged with possession with intent to deliver steroids, manufacturing steroids and carrying a weapon in a vehicle without a permit.
Des Moines police this week have been cataloging liquid steroids as well as thousands of steroids in tablet and capsule form seized from Kinkade's property, officials said.
Kinkade allegedly was buying steroids in powder form from China and the Philippines, Des Moines narcotics investigator Tony Ballantini said. The products were shipped to a post office box in West Des Moines.
Ballantini said no one currently working in the Des Moines police narcotics office can remember the last time the department handled a steroid case.
Investigators have not yet been able to place a value on the items that were seized but they say just one vial of liquid is likely worth $100 to $150. In addition, narcotics officers seized thousands of empty capsules and a pill press.
"He had a pharmacy, basically," Ballantini said. "He was making his own pills."
Officers seized a scale, computers, formulas, pill bottles and empty vials.
Ballantini said narcotics officers with a Waterloo-Cedar Falls area drug task force did most of the work on the case, developing a suspect on their end. That person traveled to Ellsworth and allegedly met with Kinkade. Officers followed them back to their respective towns and then made the arrests. Benjamin Barnhart, 29, of Waterloo, also was arrested on drug charges, officials said.
Ballantini said Kinkade cooperated with the investigation to a point but didn’t name clients or fitness centers “because he didn’t want to embarrass anyone.”
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