Joe Duggan (Reporter)
ELITE bodybuilders were among 41 arrested as Balearics police helped smash a huge steroid-selling ring.
Guardia Civil agents raided 45 premises in the Balearics, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and the Canaries.
Officers believe the gang used 4.2 million doses of doping products when manufacturing the substances.
Large quantities of banned medicines associated with sports doping, including hormones and anabolic steroids, were seized along with €180,000, speed, cocaine and hashish as cops targeted gyms.
“Among those arrested were elite bodybuilding athletes with numerous national and international titles,” a police spokesperson said.
The investigation started this year after one Balearic gym was found to be distributing the steroids without medical clearance.
Most of the drugs were smuggled in from Portugal, with police identifying and trailing the gang’s ringleader.
Substances were also illegally imported from Greece, Poland, the USA, Bulgaria and Hungary.
Money was smuggled into countries where the drugs originated from, with police uncovering €80,000 hidden in one shipment of printer cartridges bound for Greece.
