Date: March 1, 2006

Italian police arrested two vets and a pharmacist on the charge of feeding Viagra to horses used in illegal racing. Viagra is believed to improve the performance of the horses.

According to a report given by the police in Naples, the vets and the pharmacist were among 24 people who were arrested on the charge of running an illegal horseracing racket. The police conducted a successful operation in this southern city of Italy to wipe out the underground horseracing gang, wherein many jockeys and horse owners were also arrested.

The criminal gang has been operating an underground racing and betting racket for many years. They usually conducted the race after hours, where stolen horses were used. Sometimes the horses were fed with Viagra as a stimulant to improve their performances in the race.

Police started their investigations way back in 2004. After the arrests made this week, the police found out that Viagra is widely used as a performance-enhancing stimulant even in the legal horse races. Properties worth more than $3 million were seized in the raid.

Source: guardian.co.uk

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