Spanish police dismantle suspected sports doping ring

Spanish police have arrested seven people suspected of supplying performance-enhancing drugs to sportsmen, in an operation in which the banned substances were seized.

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Police in Catalonia say they have arrested amateur athletes and bodybuilders and seized clenbuterol, EPO (erythropoietin) steroids and growth hormones in the sweep. No cyclists were arrested.

A police spokesperson said the operation was launched last December following information from a professional cyclist who had received an email offering him banned drugs.

The suspects were arrested in several Catalan towns, daily La Vanguardia reports.

Police say it is the first time they have dismantled a network offering banned substances to bodybuilders and amateur athletes, the papers says.

The arrests come three days after three-time Tour de France champion cyclist Alberto Contador was cleared by the Spanish cycling federation of knowingly using clenbuterol.