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Sylvester Stallone star of Rocky charged in Australia

Tuesday, 13 March 2007

Sylvester Stallone star of Rocky charged in Australia

Hollywood actor and star of the Rocky films Sylvester Stallone has been charged with bringing a banned human growth hormone into Australia.

Sylvester Stallone, 60, who was in Australia to promote the recent movie Rocky Balboa, was stopped and detained at Sydney airport last month by customs officials and now faces a possible fine of A$22,000 (£8,930).

The officials claim to have found 48 vials of the banned substance muscle-building hormone product, Jintropin in Sylvester Stallone’s baggage. Jintropin, which is made by Chinese company GeneScience pharmaceuticals, is classed as a performance-enhancing drug under Australian law.

The Sydney court on Tuesday was presented with evidence that showed that Sylvester Stallone had marked "no" on a customs declaration form in the section asking if he was bringing restricted substances into the country, however, X-ray examination of his bags revealed the bottles of Jintropin.

Sylvester Stallone was not in court to hear the charge against him and is believed to be in Thailand where he is working on another Rambo film.

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