FYI, if your daddy is a drug dealer then HC is not going to give you, the child, a license to produce drugs.
By Doug Williamson Star Staff Reporter
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Bassem Bahige Chaaban, 64, owner of two Edge Nutrition stores in the city, and employee Marlene Newton, 39 were charged last week after undercover officers made three "buys" of a supplement called M-Test.
Windsor police allege the supplement contained steroids that fall under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act.
Chaaban is charged with possessing an anabolic steroid for the purpose of trafficking, two counts of trafficking an anabolic steroid and one count of possession of pepper spray, a prohibited weapon.
Newton is charged with trafficking an anabolic steroid.
A conviction on each of the drug charges can result in up to three years in jail. Chaaban and Newton are to appear in court March 15.
Federal drug prosecutor Richard Pollock said Wednesday the charges stem from police undercover buys made on Feb. 19 and 20. It is an offence to sell steroids or possess them for the purpose of trafficking, but it is not illegal to simply possess them, he said.
The police investigation stemmed from a complaint by a parent who became concerned over what his son was ingesting and contacted police, said Windsor police Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton.
Staff Sgt. Dan Woods of the drug unit said several samples of products sold to the officers from "under the counter" were sent to a Health Canada laboratory in Toronto for analysis.
"The vast majority of them are illegal in Canada," Woods said, adding the M-Test bought by undercover officers is available in the United States.
"(Police) have grounds to believe that they've trafficked (in steroids), they just don't know what it is," Pollock said, adding the charges will be amended once test results from Health Canada identify the exact substance.
Chaaban, interviewed briefly at his store on Wyandotte Street East, denied selling steroids and referred The Star to his lawyer, Pat Ducharme.
