Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan police force, say that the group had direct involvement in doping offences not only at the Beijing Olympics, but also at cycling's Tour of Portugal in 2009, the 2010 Tour of Spain and the Spanish Athletics Championship in 2010.

It is claimed the ringleader is Colombian Alberto Beltrán Niño (pictured), the former team doctor of cycling team Liberty Seguros.

Beltrán Niño also worked for cycling unit Xacobeo-Galicia, whose rider David Garcia tested positive for the blood boosting drug Erythropoietin (EPO) at the 2010 Vuelta a España.

García has reported disclosed information to the police about how he had acquired the product, allegedly implicating Beltrán Niño. 

Cesar Perez, the former trainer of steeplechase world champion Marta Dominguez, was also reported to have been detained.


Last April Dominguez (pictured), who is also the two-time European 5,000 metres gold medallist, was cleared in court of drug trafficking charges brought as part of "Operation Galgo," an investigation into doping in Spanish athletics.

The judge also threw out the case against her and Dominguez's manager, Jose Alonso Valero.

The police in the latest case claimed that the criminal group obtained illegal doping substances and supplied them to elite athletes.

Among the other items reportedly seized were steroids, including continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA), for which several athletes tested positive for at Beijing 2008, including Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi, who was stripped of the gold medal he won in the 1500 metres as a result.

A number of cyclists were also caught using the drug, including Italian Davide Rebellin, who lost the Olympic silver medal he had won in the road race.

On March 5, the Catalan Police stopped Beltrán Niño, as he attempted to board a flight home to Colombia, one of the countries from where the police say the drugs were trafficked.

The police confirmed that 10 people, including Beltrán, had been detained.

These include two sports nutrition shop owners, former athletes and an ex-athletics coach.

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