Spain’s national police (CDEV) have uncovered a criminal network that used original substances from pharmacies to manufacture performance-enhancing drugs, which were then touted to potential customers through gyms and sports nutrition stores. Police arrested 22 people over the weekend, following a coordinated investigation involving searches carried out in nine stores and nine homes. ‘Those arrested include prominent bodybuilders and a nurse who managed the provision of recipes using original substances from pharmacies, which are prized for their quality and are absolutely proven in their composition’, read an 11 July CDEV statement.

The police said that over 500,000 doses of illegal drugs had been seized in the raids, most of which had been ‘acquired abroad, without any control, over the internet’. The investigation began on Ibiza, where police investigated a group of individuals involved in the distribution of ‘large quantities’ of anabolic steroids. This led the police to Valencia, where the suppliers of these products lived.

‘After identifying the ringleaders, extensive work was carried out to determine the composition of the structure of the organisation, to discover how the products were purchased and distributed’, continued the statement. ‘This work allowed the agents to discover that several establishments selling nutritional products had been used as a point of direct contact with potential customers’. Police said that they had also discovered a warehouse where most of the doping substances were stored.

During the weekend’s raids, police said that they had also uncovered €31,890, a stun gun, knives, documentation related to fraudulent activity and forged prescriptions. Sixteen people were arrested in Valencia, four in Ibiza and two in Barcelona.