Four and a half years after being taken into custody in the Operación Puerto raids, Spanish doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes finds himself once again being questioned by police. The Canaries-based practicioner is amongst a number of people taken into custody after raids in Madrid, Palencia and Las Palmas, which are linked to the new Operación Galgo (Operation Greyhound) investigation into doping.
A number of others are also facing questioning, mostly from the world of athletics. These include the 2009 world 3000 metres steeplechase champion Marta Dominguez, who is currently the vice president of the Spanish Athletics Federation, her trainer Cesar Perez and the very successful Spanish coach Manuel Pascua Piqueras.
The home of former mountain bike rider Alberto León has also been raided. He was previously involved with Fuentes in assisting him with blood transfusions during the build-up to the Puerto raids. This earlier case led to many big name riders being implicated, including Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, who were blocked from starting the 2006 Tour de France. Alejandro Valverde was also linked to the raids on Fuentes’ lab in Madrid, which led to the seizure of banned substances and stored blood.
He long denied being involved, but was linked through DNA testing and is currently serving a long suspension.
Fuentes has not yet been punished for his part in the doping ring, due partly to the fact that no law was in place at the time. The legislation was changed in late 2006, however, and now anyone supplied banned substances to athletes face very real penalties. Fuentes does still faces the chance of being tried for crimes against public health.
In the years since Operación Puerto, there have been unconfirmed reports that he was still involved in doping those involved in sport. Today's raids will go a long way towards determining if that indeed is the case.