SYDNEY, Australia -- Underworld criminals in Europe are making more money out of bodybuilding drugs than some narcotics, a senior anti-doping official said Monday.
David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), said the so-called gym culture among people wanting to look good had become a major health and policing issue in the world.
"Trafficking in steroids is now seen as a more lucrative task for those who work in the underworld than trafficking in some of the more familiar social drugs," Howman said.
He said he was relying on information given to him by Interpol, the international police network.
Although WADA is primarily concerned with sports doping, it is working closely with Interpol to help prevent international trade in steroids and other muscle-building drugs like peptides and human growth hormone (HGH).
"Steroids are getting to the stage of being too available. Therefore the temptations and the risks that our athletes are taking become (greater)," he said.
"Interpol are extremely worried about it because of the health effect it has on kids and the potential damage. It is much bigger than an international sports issue. We are talking about a major health issue."
Howman said the trade in steroids was a major subject at a meeting of European sports ministers he attended in Budapest earlier this month.
