Eight suspects arrested in Malaga town during massive international police operation against food fraud

Those detained across Europe allegedly passed off inferior oils as extra virgin olive oils or relabelled expired products with new dates, amongst other things

Europa Press

Malaga

Monday, 28 October 2024, 21:50

Eight people have been arrested in Malaga accused of being part of an international food fraud ring which involved passing off inferior quality oils as extra virgin olive oils, amongst other things.

In total, Guardia Civil officers in Spain arrested 32 people and they are investigating a further 21 as suspects for crimes against industrial property, fraud, food fraud, document forgery and public health. In addition to selling inferior quality oil, they are also accused of relabelling products that had already expired.

The Guardia Civil launched 12 individual operations as part of a wider investigation against food fraud, according to a statement issued on Sunday. Police carried out more than 3,000 inspections and searches in distribution centres, warehouses, means of transport, ports and airports in Spain, where up to 2,000 offences were detected.

Eight people were arrested in Malaga, with police in Coín dismantling a criminal organisation and seizing packaging and labelling machinery, as well as 1,800 kilos of refrigerated and frozen food products, badly preserved, unlabelled or expired, such as sausages, hams, salmon, pizzas and eggs.

These products had their expiry dates removed or erased in order to distribute them to customers, and they also packaged, labelled, sorted and distributed eggs by modifying their expiry dates, according to the authorities.

The investigations are part of a Europe-wide macro-operation which focused on counterfeit (or substandard) food and alcoholic beverages, illegal food supply chains, food fraud, food safety and economically motivated adulteration.

104 arrest warrants throughout Europe

At a European level, the police forces of the 29 participating countries issued 104 arrest warrants and carried out 184 search warrants. In addition, a total of 278 people have been reported and 11 criminal organisations dismantled.

Researchers across Europe noted a continuing trend in the sale of expired food, having attracted waste disposal companies, they get their hands on masses of food to be disposed of, which they then erase and reprint the expiry dates and attach new labels, reintroducing the expired products back into the supply chain. The most affected products have been olive oil and wines with protected designation of origin (PDO).

Among the most significant actions, police, with the collaboration of Europol and Italian police, seized some 120,000 cans of canned tuna and 45,000 litres of oil, which led to the arrest of four people. The detainees, owners of a canning company in Alfaro, in La Rioja, made the canned tuna with tuna of lower quality than that which appeared on the label, as well as with sunflower oil or pomace oil when it appeared as olive oil. They sold the products at much lower prices than competitors.

Police forces in Madrid, in collaboration with the region's health authorities, seized 642 five-litre drums of oil, 104 hams and 207 cheeses, and arrested one person, with four others under investigation. They marketed from a warehouse in Valdemoro (Madrid) mixed seed oil passing it off as EVOO and mild oil, cured hams as Iberian hams and cheeses without being able to prove their origin.

Meanwhile, police in Valencia investigated a pickle company that was selling products unfit for consumption and adding colourings and preservatives that were not in accordance with regulations. At the company's premises, 80,000 kilograms of product were seized, much of which was stored and packaged, ready for sale and consumption. The manager of the company was arrested.

In Seville, police inspected establishments dedicated to the processing and distribution of frozen fish products, where workers were relabelling two pallets of frozen cod loins of which the expiry dates had expired. Seven people were investigated and a total of 45,320 kilos of deep-frozen products with the altered labelling seized.

A criminal group which distributed extra virgin olive oil adulterated with other types of oil such as sunflower, seed or lampante oil was also dismantled in Seville. A total of 11 people were arrested and six are under investigation, with 20,000 litres of fake olive oil seized.

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