Eight people have been arrested since a photo of Michael Phelps with a marijuana pipe was published in a British tabloid earlier this month, South Carolina television station WIS reported on Tuesday. The television station also reported that police confiscated the bong Phelps allegedly used after tracking it down when its owner, who is one of the eight people charged in the case, attempted to sell it on eBay for 100,000 dollars.

U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps listens to a question during an interview at Yingdong Swimming Pool in Beijing Jan. 13, 2009, during filming for a television commercial for Mazda.

According to the report, 23-year-old Phelps, the American swim super star who won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was not among those charged in a probe by the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Among those charged, seven arrests have been charged with drug possession and one person with distribution of drugs. But none of those charged was named in the report.

The report said the photograph appeared to be taken at a house located within the city limits of this state capital, but the report said the Columbia Police Department has not taken an active role in the investigation.

Phelps was banned for three months by USA Swimming on Thursday for his bad behavior. The moves were the latest fallout from a photograph published in an English tabloid over the weekend showing the 23-year-old smoking a long glass pipe, or bong, associated with the consumption of marijuana. He apologized for a lapse in judgment and lost a sponsor in Kellogg Co.