SUSPICION: Drugs illegally given to players on field...
Violation of Controlled Substances Act...
Six teams targeted on Sunday...
Bags searched...
Federal drug agents conducted surprise inspections of National Football League team medical staffs on Sunday as part of an ongoing investigation into prescription drug abuse in the league. The inspections, which entailed bag searches and questioning of team doctors by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in cooperation with the Transportation Security Administration, were based on the suspicion that NFL teams dispense drugs illegally to keep players on the field in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, according to a senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation.
The medical staffs were part of travel parties whose teams were playing at stadiums across the country. They included the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who played the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field, and the San Francisco 49ers, who played the New York Giants in New Jersey. DEA officials were expected to inspect six teams in all on Sunday.
The DEA had reason to look at those teams in particular, but the investigation is not restricted to them, according to the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe is ongoing. The official said the investigation focuses on practices across the 32-team league, including possible distribution of drugs without prescriptions or labels, and the dispensing of drugs by trainers rather than physicians.
Federal law prohibits anyone but a physician or nurse practioner from distributing prescription drugs, and they must meet myriad regulations for acquiring, storing, labeling and transporting them. It is also illegal for a physican to distribute prescription drugs outside of his geographic area of practice. And it is illegal for trainers to dispense, or even handle, controlled substances in any way.
more sphincter-tightening stuff
Federal drug agents launch surprise inspections of NFL teams following games - The Washington Post