Police in the northeastern Colombia city of Medellin said on Wednesday they had arrested Hernan Dario Bonilla, a leading local cyclist, for carrying illegal hidden weapons: two automatic pistols and a sub-machine gun.

Gen. Marco Antonio Pedreros, commander of the Valle de Aburra Metropolitan Police, said that the camouflage on the guns indicates that they were bought on the black market and were intended for Medellin's armed gangs.

He said that the cyclist had denied being the owner and that authorities have begun an investigation. But he added that the guns were found in a hiding place clearly created with one idea in mind: fooling the authorities.

The General added that Colombian law bans carrying hidden weapons and can jail offenders.

Bonilla, who won 1995's under-18 Tour of Colombia, had been arrested on a similar offense before: during 1999's Tour of Costa Rica he was found carrying two illegal nine-millimeter pistols.

Medellin police seized more than 5,000 guns in 2006, but did not jail a single person for carrying hidden weapons as a result.