Over one hundred people arrested in contaminated wooden pallet raids

Officers from Seprona, the Guardia Civil's nature protection service, in collaboration with Europol, have arrested around 100 people and have seized more than 3,700 tonnes of pest-infected pallets which posed a very high risk to Spanish ecosystems and those of the European Union as a whole.

The investigations have been carried out in thirteen provinces, with a focus on the Canary Islands and Murcia, where companies in the timber sector traded on the international market with pallets that did not comply with legal requirements.

"The pests associated with wood packaging material have negative effects on the biodiversity of forests, native fauna and the health of crops," said the commander of Seprona, José Carlos Martínez, accompanied by Captain José Antonio Alfaro, from Europol, at a press conference.

The seized palletes did not meet the legal requirements for international use. The operators had not treated the pallets in ovens to eliminate pests as per the regulations.

Since last year, Seprona carried out 828 inspections for this type of offence and investigated 104 people for non-compliance with European regulations. The criminal offences detected include crimes against natural resources and the environment, misappropriation and membership of a criminal organisation.