A global
police operation has seized a record amount of illicit food and drink,
including monkey meat, painted olives and sugar with fertilizer. Fake food and
drink is a multi-billion euro criminal industry.
Deutsche Welle, 30 March 2016
Law
enforcement from 57 countries seized 10,000 metric tons of food and 1 million
liters of drink in a crackdown on criminal networks that pose a threat to
public health, Interpol said on Wednesday.
"Fake
and dangerous food and drink threaten the health and safety of people around
the world, who are often unsuspectingly buying these potentially dangerous
goods," said Michael Ellis, head of Interpol's Trafficking in Illicit
Goods unit.
#Fake alcohol, adulterated honey & meat unfit for human consumption amongst products seized in Operation #Opson V https://t.co/eSyEmxB64q— STOP ILLICIT TRADE (@INTERPOL_TIGC) March 30, 2016
Dubbed
Operation Opson V, the joint Interpol-Europol operation conducted between
November 2015 and February 2016 targeted criminal networks concerned only about
"making a profit, no matter what the cost to the public," Ellis said.
Officers
seized nine tons of sugar contaminated with fertilizer in Sudan, 85 tons of
olives painted with copper sulphate in Italy and 70 kilograms of chicken guts
preserved in the prohibited additive formalin.
Customs
officers at Belgium's Zaventum airport found several kilograms of monkey meat,
while in France officers seized 11 kilograms of locusts and 20 kilograms of
caterpillars.
In
Thailand, police seized 30 tons of illegal beef and buffalo meat unfit for
human consumption and in Bolivia the operation found thousands of cans of
sardines with fake labels of a famous Peruvian brand.
The
operation also yielded dangerous fake alcohol across the globe.
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