Those Mets

BELTRAN & DELGADO WANTED FOR STEROID INVESTIGATION

Those Mets Report, Breaking News Federal authorities investigating a doctor based in Canada for distributing performance-enhancing drugs want to meet with Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran and the former Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado, according to several people briefed on the matter. The authorities want to speak with the two players because another athlete interviewed by the authorities said that he was referred to Dr. Galea by Beltran and Delgado, the people said. Beltran has been treated by the doctor, Anthony Galea, according to the people, and Dr. Galea has said that he treated Delgado, who is a free agent. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said on Monday that he had been contacted by the authorities about meeting with them about his ties to Dr. Galea. Rodriguez could meet with the authorities as early as late Tuesday, according to a person briefed on the matter. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a continuing investigation. Galea, who is based in Toronto, has been charged by Canadian authorities with conspiring to smuggle human growth hormone and other drugs into the United States. In this country, he is being investigated by a small army of federal authorities: the Department of Homeland Security, the F.B.I., the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and the United States attorney’s office in Buffalo. According to several people briefed on the investigation, it is not just baseball players who have been linked to Galea. The people said that the federal authorities had developed information that several professional football players who were treated by Galea received performance-enhancing drugs from him. Those people, along with the person with knowledge of the Yankees’ inquiries to Rodriguez’s representatives, did not want to be publicly identified because they were discussing matters related to a continuing federal investigation. The investigation of Galea began in September, when one of his assistants was stopped at a border crossing in Buffalo. In the assistant’s car, authorities found H.G.H., other substances and a laptop computer with medical files. The assistant is cooperating with authorities and has told them that Galea provided athletes with performance-enhancing drugs. The Daily News first reported on Tuesday that Beltran had been contacted by the authorities. (NY Times)