NEW DELHI, April 16 (Xinhua)/Flowerbudnews: — Tons of performance-enhancing drugs were seized and illicit labs were dismantled in the Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network initiative, the World Anti-Doping Agency said here on Thursday.
In the final conference of the expansion phase of GAIIN in Asia and Oceania, WADA president Witold Banka briefed the participants about the development of the global initiative. In total, 51 countries and regions from across Asia and Oceania participated in this phase of the project.
“The Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network initiative has already been a remarkable success with around 250 operations currently ongoing around the world,” he said.
According to Banka, 88 illicit laboratories have been dismantled and almost 90 tons of performance-enhancing drugs have been seized by the authorities.
“This represents 1.8 billion doses of drugs prevented from reaching the global market. These are extraordinary achievements, and they confirm that our intelligence-led, partnership-based approach is having the desired effect,” he added.
Banka pointed out that anti-doping is “a team sport and WADA cannot do it alone.”
“I want to thank our colleagues in governments, Anti-Doping Organizations and law enforcement around the world, including INTERPOL and Europol, for their wholehearted commitment to this project,” he said. “We rely on the collaboration of many organizations and individuals, including athletes, to make progress and to ensure a level playing field for all competitors.”
Representatives of law enforcement agencies and Anti-Doping Organizations from over 60 countries and regions in Europe, Asia and Oceania were also updated on the ongoing “Operation Upstream” investigation, which has so far involved more than 20 countries and regions and led to the seizure of several tons of performance-enhancing drugs, coordinated by WADA, INTERPOL, and Europol.
WADA’s Director of Intelligence and Investigations, Gunter Younger, said global collaboration had helped uncover a hidden supply chain that had been fueling the illicit market for performance-enhancing drugs.
“With our ‘Operation Upstream’ partners, we have focused on powerful kingpin suppliers in Asia as well as their customers across continents, to shut down this global pipeline and the risks it poses,” he said.
Acting Director of INTERPOL’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, Nick Court, said: “The fight against doping requires a unified global response. By combining law enforcement capabilities with the expertise of anti-doping authorities, we are strengthening our collective ability to disrupt the production and trafficking of performance-enhancing substances.”
The expansion of GAIIN stems from the success of the I&I Capability and Capacity Building project in Europe that was carried out from 2022 to 2024. The next phase will take place in the Americas in 2026-2027 and will conclude in Africa in 2028-2029. The International Standard for Intelligence and Investigations will come into effect on January 1, 2027.