Dr. Lydia Velasco provided the producer with prescriptions for Percodan, Vicodin, Ritalin and Percoset for $100 -- no medical questions asked.
Another undercover producer visited with a pharmacist named Francisco, who also played the role of salesman.
Francisco provided the producer with steroids and described how to use them, what each of them does and even how to smuggle them across the border.
His price for a month's supply was $375. But a closer look at the goods themselves revealed risks even if they got past customs. The steroids were intended for animals: cows and dogs. One had expired in June 2004.
Buying drugs from shady pharmacists in Mexico and taking steroids is like playing Russian roulette, said Dr. Gary Wadler, one of the leading experts on steroids in the United States.
"You don't know if it's safe. You don't know if it's effective," he said. "You don't know what it's contaminated with. You do not know what the dosage is."
"Primetime Live" correspondent Chris Cuomo went to Nogales to confront Velasco and Francisco.
After a quick look at the hidden-camera footage, Velasco said she was ashamed.
"It's not OK, and you are right," she said. "I am not doing the right thing!" She promised never to do it again.
When Cuomo confronted Francisco, he initially denied even selling steroids. But after he was shown the hidden-camera footage, his story changed.
"Sometimes I tell the people that I'm not gonna sell nothing to them," Francisco claimed. He also promised good behavior -- saying he would never sell to kids.
However, getting steroids from people like Francisco and Velasco is only half the problem. The other half is getting the drugs back to the United States.
But if you're American, getting them back from Mexico isn't that difficult. People who say they're not bringing anything with them are rarely checked.
Customs officials denied repeated interview requests to discuss the issue of steroids trafficking. But in a statement, they said they had "heightened security at the nation's border" and last year seized more than 1,065 pounds of steroids.
