A massive continent-wide police operation has netted 24 tons of anabolic steroid powder and 234 arrests across Europe.

It also resulted in the closure of nine underground labs that produced performance-enhancing drugs and the dismantling of 17 organized-crime groups.

The operation involved 33 countries, including 23 EU nations, the European police agency, Europol, and the World Anti-Doping Agency  (WADA).

"This is the sort of multi-party collaboration that produces real results and can make a significant impact on the availability of counterfeit and illegal drugs used by some athletes globally,'' WADA intelligence director Gunther Younger said.

Europol said the operation, co-led by law enforcement officials from Italy and Greece, was the largest of its kind.

International law enforcement agencies have recently been taking a closer look at the use of performance enhancing drugs used by athletes.

Last year,  the U.S. Justice Department charged Russian military intelligence officers in a wide-ranging case that included WADA and the football federation, FIFA.

Source : VOA News