Former pro cyclist JÖRGE JAKSCHE told a Madrid court that Spanish blood doctor EUFEMIANO FUENTES would charge €4,000 ($5,365) for "transfusing one bag of blood, but offered a discount for two bags," according to Jacquelin Magnay of the London TELEGRAPH. The evidence "may prove devastating" for Fuentes and former Liberty Seguros Team Manager MANOLO SAIZ, both of whom face two years in jail for "health malpractice charges." Jaksche, the first of a number of int'l cyclists to give evidence, explained "how he became involved in an extensive doping programme." Jakschke told the court that the marked points on a map of France were "locations where Saiz and Fuentes had decided where the transfusions and injections of drugs would take place." The locations were uncovered during the '06 Civil Guard raids on Fuentes' premises (TELEGRAPH, 2/11). BLOOMBERG's Alex Duff reported Jaksche said there were so many points on the map "you could hardly see France." Fuentes is among five defendants on trial for a "crime against public health" by overseeing a doping ring that was uncovered in a '06 Spanish police investigation called "Operacion Puerto," or "Operation Mountain Pass." Prosecutors are "seeking a two-year prison sentence for each." Police initially linked as many as 58 pro cyclists to the ring, based on "wire taps, training notes and other evidence found in raids on apartments in Madrid" (BLOOMBERG, 2/11).
