Spanish police arrest 12 in doping network swoop

Madrid: Spanish authorities said Saturday they had arrested 12 people including a doctor and a police officer in a series of raids on a sports doping network.

Police said they uncovered the scheme in early September and carried out raids that netted 110,000 doses of 85 types of drugs purchased in Britain or from Spanish pharmacies using doctors` prescriptions.

Police also picked up 12 kilos of hashish and some cocaine.

Clients of the nefarious doping network were sports people "elite and amateur from different disciplines," a police spokesman told AFP, without giving names.

The doctor, based in the northern region of Asturias, was one of the masterminds and carried out blood transfusions prohibited under anti-doping regulations during treatment to cure sports injuries, police said in a statement.

Several gym officials and the owner of a nutrition store which allowed the sale of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs were also arrested.

Of the 12 people police swooped on, two were jailed and eight placed under judicial supervision.

The investigation began with the arrest of 15 people, including former Olympians, in another case in February.

Spanish authorities have regularly been accused of laxity in the fight against doping and cannot conduct tests since the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) declared they did not comply with international rules last March.