New doping scandal hits cycling and athletics
Spanish police make ten arrests in Operation Skype.
Operation Skype is the newest doping investigation to plague the sport of cycling. Spanish police arrested former cycling team doctor, Alberto Beltran Nino, and ten others who are allegedly linked to an international doping network that supplied ‘next generation’ performance enhancing drugs in cycling and athletics.
Spanish police along with Catalan regional police, Mossos d’Esquardra, arrested the Colombian doctor at the Barajas Airport in Madrid at the beginning of March. Police made a second set of arrests, including ten people, following a series of raids tied to the investigation.
According to El Pais, Beltran was carrying TB-500 and AICAR, two substances that are banned on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list, at the time of his arrest.
Beltran is the former team doctor for professional cycling teams LA Liberty Seguros, Xacobeo-Galicia and Selle Italia.
It was also reported that the investigation started two years ago after pro cyclist David Garcia tested positive for the banned drug erythropoietin (EPO), purchased from Beltran, at the Vuelta a Espana. Garcia received a two-year ban and cooperated with police.
The doping network was linked to positive tests at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 Volta a Portugal, 2010 Vuelta a Espana and Spanish Athletic Championships.
The Associated Press reported that Cesar Perez, trainer of Spanish runner Marta Dominguez, was among those arrested in Operation Skype. Dominguez, 2009 world steeplechase champion, was implicated in Operacion Puerto investigation and later arrested during the Operacion Galgo in 2010. She was later acquitted of those charges.
Spanish middle distance runner, Jose Luis Blanco, who tested positive for EPO at the 2012 Spanish Championships is reported to have aided police in the investigation.
