article_snippet: Australians spend up to $10 billion on fitness each year and a large chunk of that money now goes on illegal substances - and criminal syndicates have muscled in on the illegal part of the fitness industry, using extraordinary methods to try and avoid detection.
article_snippet: Some estimate the illegal market in steroids across Australia could be worth up to a billion dollars with Australians spending almost $10 billion on fitness each year .
article_snippet: Over the past decade, the number of performance and image enhancing drugs detected at the Australian border has increased 7-fold, with Australia recording the biggest percentage increase.
article_snippet: And that's because there is an increasing demand for the illegal performance enhancing substances, one which continues to grow every year.
article_snippet: At one Gold Coast health clinic alone, there have been up to 150 steroid injections reported in one month.
article_snippet: Queensland and New South Wales are considered the hot-beds in steroid production and trade with Australia, reporting the biggest (percentage) increase in the number of seizures in a year, registering just 1 in 2012 and then 30 in 2013. '
article_snippet: Steroid seizures and arrests are climbing every year, Steroid seizures and arrests are now at record levels and show no sign of declining, with the trade controlled by the motorcycle gangs, who are increasingly using the back of stores and city garages, instead of gyms and Steroid seizures and arrests traditional club-houses, to sell the illicit products.
article_snippet: It's not just the 20-something gym junkies they're selling to, recent surveys have revealed that up to 3 per cent of 12 to 17-year-old school students have admitted to using  steroids to bulk up.
article_snippet: Taskforce Maxima commenced in October of 2013 and 'initially we did find just small quantities of steroids within the gangs'. '
article_snippet: Since then Taskforce Maxima has grown, both the local production and trafficking of steroids.'
article_snippet: In the past six months alone, Customs has intercepted more than 3000 packages of steroids, from all parts of the globe.
article_snippet: Customs officials are finding steroids secreted in a variety of manners, including pills and powder inside herbal products and even green tea packaging.
article_snippet: In the past six months alone, Customs has intercepted more than 3000 packages of steroids, from all parts of the globethe globe.
article_snippet: During one raid, police answered a knock at the door - it was a courier delivering another package of steroids sent from the US to the same address .
article_snippet: Customs uncovered this haul of steroids during an operation at Gold Coast Airport.
article_snippet: Over the past decade, the number of performance and image enhancing drugs detected at the Australian border has increased 7-fold, with the 10,356 detections in the year 2012–13.
article_snippet: There were 300 ampoules full of injectable steroids inside a package which had been sent form the United States to the same address, where they were making arrests.'
article_snippet: Over the past six months, the Queensland Taskforce has made 73 arrests for possession, production and trafficking in steroids .. after raids in more than 50 properties. '
article_snippet: It's very much Gold Coast and Brisbane based where the majority of steroids are being located, but steroids have been located over the length and breadth of Queensland,' 300 ampoules full of injectable steroids inside the package added.
article_snippet: Part of the bust at Gold Coast Airport which netted 29,000 steroid tablets .
article_snippet: The trafficking which is occurring ranges from the low level personal use to imported raw steroid powders which are then produced into injectable varieties, from south-east Asia primarily. '
article_snippet: Should this happen, this is likely that there will be an increase in the illicit market.' the illicit market is clearly on the rise, with up to 10 per cent of those using needle exchanges now admitting to injecting steroids - up from 2 per cent just seven years ago.