PARIS (AP) — A Belgian state prosecutor says authorities have arrested a part-time assistant for the BMC Racing cycling team following the importation of 195 vials of the banned blood-booster EPO two years ago.
Prosecutor Johan Lescrauwaet from the Belgian city of Ypres says Sven Schoutteten was questioned after the vials were discovered in a package intercepted by customs officers at Liege airport in 2009 and later found to be EPO.
Lescrauwaet says a judge ordered the conditional release of Schoutteten on Thursday, three days after he was detained by police.
BMC president Jim Ochowicz said that he doesn’t believe his riders “are out looking for EPO.”
BMC is set to race in the Tour de France, which starts Saturday.