No jail for 'Big Dog' ex-protein shop owner who smuggled £330k steroids into the Black Country
A former nutrition shop owner and his accomplice who smuggled £300,000 worth of illegal steroids into the Black Country have been spared jail.
Kunil Chand, nicknamed 'Big Dog', stored the testosterone, human growth hormone and Sustanon at his Wolverhampton supplements shop after importing them into the country with the help of Satnam Sahota.
Sahota, of Hales Crescent, Smethwick, agreed to track shipments of the performance enhancing drugs in order to pay off his gambling debts after meeting Chand on a flight from India.
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A total of 83 deliveries were made from India to Chand's Your Protein store on Clark Road and a unit of his at Bizspace in Upper Villiers Street between September 2013 and December 2014.
However the racket was rumbled when border police seized a Wolverhampton-bound package at Birmingham Airport late in 2014.
Police raided 28-year-old Chand's shop in December that year and found steroids with a street value of around £330,000.
The Your Protein store is now under new ownership who have no association with Chand.
Chand, of Oakland Road, Penn, admitted conspiracy to supply Class C drugs and was today given an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years, at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Sahota maintained his innocence throughout the trial but was convicted by the jury after the prosecution showed the 38-year-old had been paid £7,000 by Chand - the same value of the parcels that had been delivered. He was given a one-year suspended prison sentence.
Det Con Alex Gascoyne, West Midlands Police's investigating officer, said: "The consequences for people taking these steroids could have been extremely serious and we are pleased we were able to remove them from the streets and stop both Chand and Sahota from continuing their dangerous trade."
