Nateesha Barlin - From Ugly Duckling to Topless Model to Steroid Kingpin?
Nateesha Barlin - From Ugly Duckling to Topless Model to Steroid Kingpin?
Nateesha Barlin was an “ugly duckling” who turned to the gym culture and anabolic steroids to improve her physical appearance. Barlin claimed that it was this path that eventually led her to illegally import anabolic steroids to “supply the whole Central Coast” in New South Wales, Australia.
Barlin and her bodybuilder boyfriend Dylan Shaw pleaded guilty to various steroid trafficking charges in Gosford District Court on May 31, 2018. In an obvious attempt to elicit a more lenient sentence from the judge, Barlin’s defense attorney blamed his client’s actions on a difficult childhood history.
Barlin’s attorney described a childhood marred by parental discord and separation. The separation was particularly difficult for Barlin who was bullied at school and felt like she was an ugly duckling. Barlin sought solace in the “gym culture” which ultimately “introduced her to steroids”.
“What is particularly relevant in this particular offense is her perception of herself and the bullying she felt as a result of how she looked,” he said.
Barlin pleaded guilty to two counts including unlawfully importing prohibited tier 1 goods (testosterone) and the deemed supply of steroids, in violation of the Australian Customs Act 1901. Shaw pleaded guilty to three counts including unlawfully importing anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and the deemed supply of steroids.
Barlin and Shaw’s domestic steroid trafficking business was shut down after a two-year sting operation by the Australian Border Force (ABF) dismantled their operation in November 2016. Australian prosecutors formally charged the couple with multiple charges related to steroid importation and trafficking in January 2017. The couple must now await sentencing in June 2018.
Barlin was described as the mastermind behind the steroid-trafficking criminal enterprise after investigators discovered a text message in which she claimed ‘I pretty much supply the whole Central Coast’.
Prosecutors seized upon this statement to characterized Barlin and Shaw as big-time domestic steroid sources. Of course, this text message wasn’t the only evidence to suggest that the couple was raking in a lot of money from the illegal operation.
Between October 2014 and October 2016, ABF seized 17 packages containing a total of 13,672 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, 11,200 milliliters of testosterone, 600 milliliters of other injectable anabolic steroids, 102 capsules of oxymetholone (Anesterone), 120 milliliters of clenbuterol, 195 vials of Somatotropin and 20 vials and 55 ampules of hGH.
Barlin’s attorney desperately tried to convince the judge that this volume of steroid and PED importation was primarily intended for personal use (and perhaps some extra steroids to share with her friends).
Prosecutors didn’t buy it. They described a wholesale business specifically set up to import large quantities of premixed PED substances from China and the Philippines. The PEDs were imported “for the purposes of repackaging the substances into smaller, labeled bottles to on-sell to customers”.
“The current offending doesn’t involve a traditional hierarchal structure, as might be expected to be seen in typical drug importation matters,” according to court proceedings. “Rather the co-offenders took advantage of the ready availability of PIED products in overseas markets, and with the autonomy that the internet affords, were able to establish an independent commercial operation.
“Maybe they were using performance enhancing drugs at the time but that was not the only or pure motivation. It’s motivated by financial gain primarily.”
Prosecutors had additional evidence that linked Barlin and Shaw to the sale of steroids. ABF investigators had secretly downloaded the content from Shaw’s mobile phone when they passed through customs upon returning from Thailand. Customs officials stopped the couple for baggage examination. During this time, investigators mirrored the content on Shaw’s mobile device.
The mobile device data included extensive evidence including postings on a private Facebook group called “Swole Ninja Community”. The posts included what appeared to be steroid price lists.
Barlin and Shaw are scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on June 26, 2018.
Source:
Noone, R. (May 31, 2018). ‘I pretty much supply the whole Central Coast’: Nateesha Barlin, Dylan Shaw to be sentenced. Retrieved from dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/i-pretty-much-supply-the-whole-central-coast-nateesha-barlin-dylan-shaw-to-be-sentenced/news-story/11f61d05f7a44109db0ac131a71ccac9
