Yahoo – AFP,
July 16, 2017
Spain's Guardia Civil police force began their investigation in 2016 after detecting "unusual behaviour" in horsemeat markets (AFP Photo/THOMAS SAMSON) |
Madrid
(AFP) - A Spanish-led European police investigation has broken up an organised
crime group that allegedly sold horsemeat across Europe that was "not
suitable" for human consumption, officials said Sunday.
Police in
Spain arrested 65 people suspected of crimes including animal abuse, document
forgery, public health violations, money laundering and being part of a
criminal organisation, Europe's policing agency Europol said in a statement.
The
suspected leader of the group, a Dutch national, was arrested in Belgium, it
added.
Spain's
Guardia Civil police force began their investigation in 2016 after detecting
"unusual behaviour" in horsemeat markets.
"They
detected a scam whereby horses in bad shape, too old or simply labelled as 'not
suitable for consumption' were being slaughtered in two different
slaughterhouses," Europol said.
The horses
came from Portugal and northern Spain and their meat was processed at an
unspecified location from where it was sent to Belgium, one of the biggest
horsemeat exporters in the European Union.
The group
is suspected of having modified the horse's microchips and documentation to
pass off the meat as edible.
The meat
was sold across Europe and may have earned the group over 20 million euros ($23
million) per year, Spanish police said in a separate statement.
The Guardia
Civil worked in cooperation with police in Belgium, Britain, France, Italy,
Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and the Netherlands, the statement added.
Spanish
police seized five luxury cars as part of the investigation and blocked several
bank accounts.
The
investigation stems from a British horsemeat scandal in 2013 when frozen
burgers supplied to several supermarkets were found to contain horse DNA.
Related Articles:
Dutchman at centre of new European horse meat scandal
French company Spanghero received meat from the Dutch trader seemingly
at the centre of investigations. Photograph: Imago / Barcroft Media |
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