Swansea dealer Richard Spargo sold 'cancer causing' pill

Richard Spargo was caught after customs authorities intercepted packages he had ordered from China

A drug dealer who sold illegal body building and weight loss supplements has been jailed for 20 months.

Richard Spargo, 41, from Swansea, made about £100,000 over 18 months from his online business Nucleus Research.

He admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply a class C drug at the city's crown court.

They included an anabolic steroid called Methandienone, as well as a tablet called GW501 with chemicals that can cause cancer in organs.

Spargo also pleaded guilty to breaching consumer protection regulations and breaking food regulations.

An investigation was launched by South Wales Police after it received reports steroids ordered by his business and imported from China were being seized by customs authorities throughout Europe.

Trading standards officers found products sold by Spargo were inaccurately labelled, made health claims that were not scientifically proven and did not always contain the chemicals they were supposed to.

Two of the products contained Methandienone - a steroid that was not declared on the packaging.

A test purchaser was sold a product unsafe for human use and intended for animal experiments only and Spargo later emailed instructions about how to inject it.

The court heard Spargo had a 2011 conviction for selling steroids to bodybuilder friends.

Judge Phillip Harris-Jenkins said Spargo was motivated by greed, and had "recklessly sold products" to people when he did not know their ingredients.

"You put profit before the safety of the consumer," he said.