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Explosive claims in footy drugs probe

EXCLUSIVE: The Federal Police and Australian Crime Commission are investigating elite sports for the use of banned substances.

Seven News can reveal it's alleged organised crime gangs are importing performance enhancing drugs.

The allegations come days after the AFL was rocked with claims of illegal performance enhancing boosters being used by Essendon.

Now there are explosive claims other sports, including rugby league, will be implicated.

It's alleged elite athletes have been supplied with performance enhancing drugs by organised crime gangs.

Computers and documents have been seized and club officials questioned by Federal police and the Australian Crime Commission.

It comes as NRL clubs distance themselves from the man at the centre of the AFL doping scandal.

The man in the middle is sports science guru Stephen Dank, and he is embroiled in one of the biggest drugs scandals in the AFL.

It was in the NRL where Dank cut his teeth with stints at five clubs. He spent four years at Manly under Des Hasler introducing lactate-reducing concoctions, calf blood injections, and DNA testing of players.

The doctor also spend time at South Sydney, Wests Tigers and Cronulla.

Manly released a statement today that they believed they had complied with rules during Dank's time at the club.

"During that time we never had any concerns. We always complied with all anti-doping protocols of the WADA code and the NRL," the statement said.

Back in 2008, former Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler denied that the club's experimental program was against the rules.

"We certainly wouldn't do anything that would put a player ... in any sort of danger," he said at the time.

But how far did Dank push the boundaries?

Essendon sacked him at the end of last season for questionable practices.

There have been extraordinary allegations of Bombers players being injected with possible banned substances at a secret off-site location.

It's now the subject of a full scale investigation by the Australian Sports Anti Doping Authority.

The AFL club has denied the claims, and said they had asked the AFL and ASADA to investigate to make sure the club had a "clean bill of health".