CANADIAN scientists have uncovered a second designer anabolic steroid that is worrying drugs officials because of the sophistication of its manufacture. The World AntiDoping Agency (Wada) said yesterday that the drug had been identified after a tip-off in an anonymous e-mail last year. A quantity of the drug was seized on the border of Canada and the United States.

However, there is no evidence that any sportsmen or women have used the drug and, instead, Wada sees the finding as a pre-emptive strike against cheats. The substance, desoxy-methyl-testosterone (DMT), is a more advanced drug than tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), which came to light in the Balco scandal in San Francisco in 2003 and was used by Dwain Chambers, the European 100 metres champion. THG was essentially a modification of a drug already in use.

Dr Christiane Ayotte, head of the Montreal Laboratory that identified the new substance, said yesterday: “In this case, whoever made this drug had access to serious organic chemists. It is at a level of sophistication that we have not seen before.

“DMT is a mixture of several substances. It is dangerous to use because it is not manufactured pharmacologically. We do not know its toxicity.”

All the laboratories accredited by Wada have been alerted to the drug. In Britain, these are King’s College London and the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket. Dr Olivier Rabin, the Wada science director, said yesterday: “Probably in this case we are ahead of the dopers. This shows to the dopers how serious we are and proves that THG was not a one-off. This new substance has been discovered so quickly after THG because we learnt some lessons from the THG story.”

The uncovering of DMT recalls the words of Victor Conte, head of the Balco laboratory, who said last year: “You think it’s all over because they have indicted me? Please. There’s a new version out there right now.” Conte, who is expected to go on trial in March, did not elborate and it is not known whether he was referring to DMT.

Drugs officials are concentrating on trying to discover where DMT is manufactured.