Posted: Oct 31, 2012 7:27 PM ET / Last Updated: Oct 31, 2012 7:22 PM ET

A Niagara Regional Police officer has pleaded guilty to smuggling anabolic steroids from the United States into Canada.
Geoffrey Purdie, 41, pleaded guilty to the charge in a Buffalo, N.Y., courtroom on Wednesday.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Purdie made several trips to the United States last year to retrieve packages containing steroids that had been shipped to a U.S. business.
The veteran police officer showed his law enforcement identification to immigration personnel at the border when bringing the steroids into Canada.

William J. Hochul Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York, said the fact that Purdie was a police officer made his criminal act more offensive.

"It is particularly egregious when a member of law enforcement violates his oath of office in order to engage in international criminal activity. Such conduct will continue to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Hochul said in a statement released Wednesday.

Purdie’s plea resulted after an investigation that included U.S. authorities and the Niagara Regional Police.
A sentencing hearing for Purdie is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2013.