San Leandro Man Arrested on Steroid Charges

Jesse Abundiz, 34, was arrested this morning at his mother’s residence in San Leandro, California. FBI agents and officers from the San Leandro Police Department took him into custody without incident based on a federal indictment filed in the District of Nevada charging him with manufacturing and distributing steroids.

Abundiz is the owner and operator of Morning Star Labs, an internet based lab operating out of Nevada and California. As part of his scheme to manufacture and distribute steroids, Abundiz used multiple fictitious company names to purchase medical grade laboratory equipment for his illegal underground steroid lab without raising the suspicions of the medical suppliers.

The investigation into Abundiz’s activities was initiated by the FBI and DEA when information received from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol indicated he was using a post office box in Sacramento, California, to receive packages of raw/pure steroid powder. After a 19 month investigation, a search warrant was conducted in December 2007 at a residence in Las Vegas, Nevada, used by Abundiz and owned by his mother.

The search revealed an operational underground steroid lab with roughly $1 million dollars (street value) of controlled substances and lab equipment. Evidence recovered included vials, syringes, beakers, medical grade vacuum pumps, butte stoppers, sophisticated label makers and labels reading “Morning Star Labs”. Approximately 400,000 dosage units (roughly 11 kilos of controlled substances that included raw anabolic steroid powders) were recovered.

Abundiz was booked into custody and will make his initial appearance in federal court today in Oakland, California.

Press Releases | Sacramento Home