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Spanish police smash doping trafficking rings - 84 arrests made

Products from Greece and China entered Spain via Portugal; news follows implementation of new law on doping

Spain’s national police force has announced that 84 people have been arrested and more than 700,000 doses of substances including anabolic steroids, EPO and human growth hormone seized following a major operation targeting illegal trafficking of doping products.

The drugs are said to have made their way into the country via a delivery company based in Portugal, although they originated from China and Greece, with packages from the latter intercepted by Italian law enforcement officers who were also involved in the operation.

Once in Spain, they were widely distributed through sports centres, gyms and via private addresses, with advertising of the products said to have included via social networking sites.

Arrests have been made throughout Spain, including in Andalusia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Madrid and Valencia, with one of those in detention confirmed as being a pharmacist.

Police say that two distinct distribution rings were involved, and cite some figures that give an idea of the scale of one of those operations – in the first quarter of 2013, it is said to have illegally imported 750 kilos of doping products into the country, and to have been turning over €11,000 a day, which would equate to around €1 million over the three-month period.

News of the operation comes just two days after new legislation in Spain designed to crack down on doping officially became law.

That legislation came in response to criticism from abroad that Spain is not tough enough when it came to anti-doping, including the widely condemned decision by the judge presiding over the Operacion Puerto case earlier this year to order the destruction of evidence rather than making it available for further analysis and investigation by relevant authorities.

The international element also underlines the global nature of trafficking of doping products, with a report earlier this year from the Australian Crime Commission highlighting the existence of links between drugs use in sport and organised crime.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

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farrell | 10 years ago
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Does anybody know how Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal is getting on?  39

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SideBurn replied to farrell | 10 years ago
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farrell wrote:

Does anybody know how Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal is getting on?  39

Knocked out in the first round.... knee trouble....  4

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Geoffroid | 10 years ago
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Spanish, French and Italian police have done a lot to investigate and prosecute users and suppliers of PEDs. Certainly they have had much more success than the athlete testing procedures.

I think the police activity is helped because these countries have sporting fraud laws, unlike the UK (despite the fact that WADA kept asking for one prior to London 2012). Also there has been political pressure for this type of police work - unlike the UK where it is not seen as a priority.

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notfastenough | 10 years ago
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At least they're moving on the trafficking side of things, you never normally hear about this stuff, as if the EPO just 'appears' in riders fridges etc. Not heard of any similar busts anywhere else though.

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jollygoodvelo | 10 years ago
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The Vuelta might be a bit slower this year...

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edster99 | 10 years ago
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Did the evidence from the Operacion Puerto actually get destroyed? Or is it still subject to wrangling?

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fatty replied to edster99 | 10 years ago
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Not sure... I'd like to find out too. If it has been destroyed then Spain still has zero credibility...

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Low Speed Wobble | 10 years ago
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It's time to put a steak in the ground and stop yakking.

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lycra vs lager | 10 years ago
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where's the beef?

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fatty | 10 years ago
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I wonder if Bertie's butcher was amongst the 84...

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