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TID Board Of Directors
- Aug 11, 2010
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MADRID — The police have arrested 84 people and dismantled two criminal gangs accused of importing and distributing sports doping substances across Spain, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.
Over all, the authorities seized about 707,000 doses of anabolic steroids, blood boosters and growth hormones. The substances were distributed through Spanish sports centers and private homes, the ministry said in a statement. One of the gangs imported the illegal products from Portugal, while the other imported its substances from Greece and China, it said.
The ministry did not disclose the identities of those arrested but said that they included a pharmacist. The Italian police were also involved in the operation, because some of the products from Greece had transited through Italy.
This month, Spanish lawmakers approved a measure intended to counter a doping problem that has recently damaged the reputation of various sports in the country. The new law expands the range of doping tests and imposes heftier fines for those dealing in illegal substances. It also creates a more autonomous national antidoping agency to fight the use of performance-enhancing substances, which was not considered illegal in Spain until 2006.
The issue of doping has also gained prominence here because of Madrid’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics. The city is competing with Istanbul and Tokyo, with the choice of host city expected to be made in September.
Earlier this year, a Spanish court held a high-profile doping trial after a seven-year investigation, called Operation Puerto, into cycling and focusing on Eufemiano Fuentes, a doctor accused of providing some of the world’s top cyclists with blood transfusions and banned substances to improve their performance.
Fuentes received a one-year suspended prison sentence in April for endangering public health, but the light sentence, as well as a decision by the judge to destroy seized blood samples said to belong to other athletes, was immediately condemned by the world antidoping agency, as well as a host of international and Spanish sports celebrities, including the tennis player Rafael Nadal. During his court testimony, Fuentes said that he had also treated athletes in other sports, like soccer and boxing.
After the court ruling, Alejandro Blanco, the president of Spain’s Olympic committee, admitted that Operation Puerto had been “a mistake and a disaster” for Spanish sports, but he insisted that the investigation’s controversial outcome should not undermine Madrid’s bid for the 2020 Summer Games.
During the first quarter of 2013 the gangs introduced into Spain some 750 kilograms (1654 pounds) of drugs from China, Greece and Portugal, and marketed them in sports centers and homes, the statement said.
One of the gangs was earning 11,000 euros ($14,434) a day through the illegal sale of these drugs, the statement said.
It was not immediately clear when the arrests were made.
Over all, the authorities seized about 707,000 doses of anabolic steroids, blood boosters and growth hormones. The substances were distributed through Spanish sports centers and private homes, the ministry said in a statement. One of the gangs imported the illegal products from Portugal, while the other imported its substances from Greece and China, it said.
The ministry did not disclose the identities of those arrested but said that they included a pharmacist. The Italian police were also involved in the operation, because some of the products from Greece had transited through Italy.
This month, Spanish lawmakers approved a measure intended to counter a doping problem that has recently damaged the reputation of various sports in the country. The new law expands the range of doping tests and imposes heftier fines for those dealing in illegal substances. It also creates a more autonomous national antidoping agency to fight the use of performance-enhancing substances, which was not considered illegal in Spain until 2006.
The issue of doping has also gained prominence here because of Madrid’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics. The city is competing with Istanbul and Tokyo, with the choice of host city expected to be made in September.
Earlier this year, a Spanish court held a high-profile doping trial after a seven-year investigation, called Operation Puerto, into cycling and focusing on Eufemiano Fuentes, a doctor accused of providing some of the world’s top cyclists with blood transfusions and banned substances to improve their performance.
Fuentes received a one-year suspended prison sentence in April for endangering public health, but the light sentence, as well as a decision by the judge to destroy seized blood samples said to belong to other athletes, was immediately condemned by the world antidoping agency, as well as a host of international and Spanish sports celebrities, including the tennis player Rafael Nadal. During his court testimony, Fuentes said that he had also treated athletes in other sports, like soccer and boxing.
After the court ruling, Alejandro Blanco, the president of Spain’s Olympic committee, admitted that Operation Puerto had been “a mistake and a disaster” for Spanish sports, but he insisted that the investigation’s controversial outcome should not undermine Madrid’s bid for the 2020 Summer Games.
During the first quarter of 2013 the gangs introduced into Spain some 750 kilograms (1654 pounds) of drugs from China, Greece and Portugal, and marketed them in sports centers and homes, the statement said.
One of the gangs was earning 11,000 euros ($14,434) a day through the illegal sale of these drugs, the statement said.
It was not immediately clear when the arrests were made.
