PARIS, Jan 23: French 1,500 metres record holder Hind Dehiba has been arrested after vials containing human growth hormone, a banned performance-enhancing substance, were found in her luggage, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Dehiba, her husband and coach Fodil and a third athlete whose identity was not revealed were arrested at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday after returning from a training session in the United States, the sources added.

The three have been remanded in custody and a prosecutor will decide over the next two days whether to place them under formal investigation or not.

French middle-distance running has been marred by a series of doping offences in recent months. Two athletes, Latifa Essarokh and Nordine Gezzar, were suspended for two years after testing positive for banned substances last year.—Reuters