Doping-Spanish police launch anti-doping operation

A policeman carries a box following a search at Spanish athlete Marta Dominguez's house in Palencia, December 10, 2010.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police have raided premises around the country as part of an anti-doping operation and several people have been detained, authorities said on Thursday without giving further details.

Daily El Pais and other local media reported that nationwide raids had targeted athletes, coaches and doctors in locations including Madrid, Palencia and Las Palmas.

Police said they were unable to give more details about the operation, which El Pais said was named "Greyhound."

The Spanish athletics federation (RFEA) and the government sports council (CSD) said they had no information about the operation when contacted by telephone.

The RFEA released a statement in which they said all their elite athletes had passed numerous doping tests over the past year and they had always co-operated with the authorities in the fight against drug cheats.

"One must always respect the presumption of innocence until guilt is definitively proven," the statement said.

"If that happens, the RFEA will punish according to the existing rules anyone who has cheated in their preparation for or participation in competition."

Spanish sport has been hit by a number of high-profile doping scandals in recent years.

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador is waiting to hear whether he will be stripped of his title and banned from cycling after testing positive for a banned substance during this year's race.

Spain's European steeplechase bronze medalist, Jose Luis Blanco, last month denied doping after the RFEA opened an investigation into a failed test.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Raquel Castillo, writing by Iain Rogers, editing by Ed Osmond and Alan Baldwin)