Vicente Verda, a former Directeur Sportif from Kelme, and his son Vicente, who works for the Astana Cazacustan team, are being investigated by police in Guardia Civil, Spain, for supplying drugs to athletes and other sports services including stress tests and medical analysis at universities. He is reportedly under investigation after dismantling a drug trafficking organization that provides.

The police investigation, code-named Operación Ilex, began in January 2021 when they began investigating an alleged ring based in Caceres, western Spain. So far, two people have been arrested and six more are under investigation.

Vicente Verda was a former professional racer and sports director for Spain's Kelme team, whose managerial career ended in 2006 when he was implicated in Spain's most notorious anti-doping "operação puerto." eight years later, he was exonerated. His son, also called Vicente, now works as a soigneur for the Astana Cazacustan team. There is no evidence or indication that the team is involved.

Earlier this year, Colombia's Miguel Angel Lopez was temporarily suspended from his Astana Qazaqstan team after reports in Spain suggested that he was under investigation in connection with Marcos Maynal, a key figure in Operacion Ilex He received.

Speaking to the Spanish news agency Efe through his lawyer, Lopez denied any wrongdoing and was subsequently reinstated by Astana. On Thursday, he immediately posted a message on social media.

"Various media outlets have posted news that I am being investigated by the doping network.

"I am not currently under active investigation or trial. My lawyer is ready to initiate any necessary legal action"

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In a statement released Thursday, outlining the operation without naming any of the individuals under investigation, Guardia Civil offers the services of "renowned sports doctors through various people closely connected to the world of professional sports, one of whom is a minor." He stated that the organization has captured "clients."

A statement from Gardia Civil said that "these services included the creation of training plans and nutritional programs, and the ingestion of drugs and banned substances in sports."

"During the investigation, these athletes were in contact with the doctor and his assistant, a physiologist. After contact was made, how they were medically profiled was corroborated through stress tests and other types of analysis."

"These services included the creation of training plans and nutritional programs, as well as the intake of drugs and banned substances in sports.

"These tests were carried out in the Sports Sciences Department of the University of Extremadura, where one of the main persons under investigation taught, along with the production, receipt and storage of certain medicines.

The athletes were then given specially designed training plans, which included the ingestion of substances banned both in Spain and by WADA, according to Guardia Civil. The annual fee charged was up to 3,000 euros per season, depending on the level of the athlete and his or her potential to win prize money.

After a year of investigation, three individuals who acted as distributors and end consumers of substances supplied by this organization were identified as operating in Guipuzcoa, Basque Country, Portugal, and Castellón, eastern Valencia, the police statement said. In some cases, encrypted message applications were used to enhance the security of the organization's illegal activities.

Among the banned and/or unapproved drugs seized were actovegin, a type of concentrated calf blood used by Lance Armstrong and the US Postal team back in the day; theophylline, a bronchodilator; and menotropin.

As investigations continue, two people have already been arrested on charges of substance trafficking and doping in sports, affiliation with a criminal organization and money laundering, and six more are under investigation. Clients involved include a cyclist, a trainer for a swimming club in Castellón, and a soccer player for the Extremadura team in the regional league.

The investigation is widely believed to be related to Gardia Civil's lengthy investigation of Dr. Marcos Maynar, whom the newspaper El País described on Thursday as "an old sports doctor of the anti-doping authorities."

In 2009, while serving as team doctor for the Portuguese team LA-MSS, Maynal was suspended from professional activities for 10 years by the Portuguese Cycling Federation authorities for a number of charges related to the supply of banned substances.

Also under investigation is former cyclist Ángel Vázquez Iglesias, who is one of eight people under investigation for a four-year doping ban from 2007 to 2010. Iglesias competed in the final year of his career at LA-MSS.