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 yesterday.
The raids were conducted over a period of months in 10 Spanish regions, the ministry said, with half the arrests in the country’s three largest cities — Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
Overall, 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.