Police investigating suspected doping through Bahrain’s Victorious Tour de France team seized more than 450 pills of unidentified ingredients from a space in Slovenia during searches across Europe, European news firm Eurojust said on Friday.
Riders and staff were raided at their homes and at the team’s hotel in Denmark this week ahead of the three-week race that began in Copenhagen on Friday.
In a statement, the European Union Agency for Cooperation in Criminal Justice (Eurojust) said 14 houses were searched in six countries and three others were questioned.
Eurojust said “412 pills with indeterminate brown content and 67 pills with indeterminate white content” were discovered in an active ingredient in Slovenia, where a cell phone was also seized.
Substances were also seized in Belgium, Italy and Poland, such as computers, telephones and other electronic devices. Police also searched homes in Spain and seized possible evidence.
The investigation was opened in May and carried out through prosecutors in Marseille, France, Eurojust said, adding that it targeted “alleged doping violations involving a foreign cycling team. “
The Bahraini government-sponsored team was also raided by French police at last year’s Tour.
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