Spanish police smash doping ring, three Britons detained

Spanish police have dismantled a ring that supplied anabolic steroids to amateur bodybuilders, arresting three British men and apprehending several weapons, the interior ministry said Tuesday.

Police seized more than 2,000 pills and 100 bottles of different banned doping products in searches of the men’s homes in the southern port of Malaga, as well as two guns, a rifle and a submachine gun, it said in a statement.

“The investigation began following a probe of a gang that was involved in drug trafficking, illicit vehicle trafficking and money laundering,” the statement said.

“Later it was determined that within this organisation a group of people was involved in the distribution of anabolic steroids at gyms and to amateur bodybuilders.”

Police also seized 1,755 euros ($2,500 dollars) in cash and a false passport and driving licence as well as a small amount of cocaine and hashish in the operation.

About one million British nationals live in Spain for all or part of the year.

Several southern Spanish coastal resorts have been dubbed the “Costa del Crime” since the 1970s because hundreds of wanted British criminals are thought to have fled there.