Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
SPANISH AUTHORITIES HAVE arrested 65 people for their involvement in a horsemeat criminal operation, as part of an investigation which was sparked by Irish authorities four years ago.
Yesterday, Europol announced that an organised crime group which traded horsemeat “unfit for human consumption” was dismantled in an operation by the Spanish Guardia Civil and in cooperation with seven other European countries.
The leader of the criminal group, a Dutch national, was arrested in Belgium as part of the operation, but Europol believe that the Spanish group is just a small part of his overall trading reach.
The crackdown is the latest in a European investigation, which began after the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said that beefburgers with traces of equine DNA were being supplied to supermarkets.
The 2013 horsemeat scandal resulted in meat products being pulled from supermarket shelves across several countries, including Ireland and the UK. The scandal affected meat, frozen food and fast-food companies as consumers lost trust in meat brands.
In the aftermath of the scandal, the European Commission carried out tests on 4,144 samples of beef for horse DNA across the EU, with 193 coming back positive.
But all 50 of Ireland’s beef samples came back negative, which the then-Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said showed the strength of Irish food testing standards and Ireland’s “commitment to maintaining the world-wide reputation of Irish food”.
The latest arrests
The Europe-wide investigation eventually led the Guardia Civil to the Dutch businessman, who is said to be ‘known in the horsemeat world’.
He led the activities of the organisation from Calpe in Alicante, and was involved in the Irish case of the beefburgers containing horse meat.
In the summer of 2016, an operation was uncovered by Spanish authorities who noticed that horses in bad shape, too old or simply labelled as “not suitable for consumption” were being slaughtered in two different slaughterhouses.
The animals came from Portugal and several places in northern Spain, their meat was processed in a specific facility. From there, they were sent to Belgium, which is one of the biggest horsemeat exporters in the European Union.
The animals’ identification was forged by modifying microchips and documents, police learned after the crackdown in their operation.
The 66 people arrested were charged with crimes such as animal abuse, document forgery, perverting the course of justice, crimes against public health, money laundering and being part of a criminal organisation.
Several bank accounts and properties were blocked or seized, and five luxury cars seized, Europol said.
In April, the EU introduced new proposals to cut down on ‘food fraud’ through improving food traceability, combatting fraud and restoring consumer trust in the food chain.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
It’s not just that people are unknowingly eating horse meat but that it is unregulated and food hygiene standards are unlikely to be a priority.
@Lily Martin: Exactly. I wouldn’t mind trying a horse steak if I was in Belgium and knew the farmer had high standards. It’s these crap farmers pretending it doesn’t matter how they keep animals, that a few bribes will take care of anything, and that people will eat any rubbish if it’s cheap. Glad the EU is cracking down on this racket. What are the odds that the poor old UK will buy up the rejected stuff at a bargain rate?
@Lily Martin: its not a patch on the car insurance price sam currently in operation
@David Huston: Maybe so, but I’m not going to eat a car :)
Meat is meat. But what your eating is another issue. Better off going veggie.
@mippinperry: A bit of minced pig snout or p@nis never did anyone any harm.
@Niallers: ‘cept you…¡
@Paul Foot: I don’t eat bits of dead animal Paul.
@Niallers: Just live animals?
A beef scandal where the culprits actually are arrested, and not the journalist reporting it! There’s a thing!
It was funny because Ireland was the butt of a many a joke for a few days, til it was found out most of the countries had the same issue.
“Who’s bringing the horse to France ?”
Too easy to blame the neigh-bours :-) .
Partly why I went vegetarian. You just don’t know what you’re putting in your mouth, when it comes to meat.
@Celtic Spirit i agree with you 100% but that comment is open to some serious comedy innuendo…
@Celtic Spirit: unless you are growing your own the same could be said for vegetables, as in pesticides and growth enhancers.
@Jay Orange: I do grow my own.
@Noel James Doherty: Just looked back at my comment and cringed. And I’d be the first person to pick on on a comment like mine. Ah well! I’ll just have to take any innuendos I get. I deserve it!!!
It wasn’t Ireland’s horse meat scandal, it was Europe’s and Ireland uncovered it, largely due to our stringent food safety procedures. This title is incredibly misleading, and suggests Ireland is somehow at fault, rather than the congratulations that are actually in order.
Meat is meat.
@Niallers: You took the words out of my fingers. As long as it’s cooked well and it’s not blow fish, I’m grand. I’d not like to know what that meat is, just cook it well, add the herbs and spices and voila! Gourmet!
Did you to miss the part where they said “meat unfit for human consumption?
@Rui Firmino: A recent poll of 100 farm animals all agreed that all meat is unfit for human consumption.
Eating meat is so 10000 BC.
Horse meat if correctly sourced ,and imaginatively cooked can make a welcome change to a diet of Beef or Lamb .and is low in fat and has a flavoursome light taste,as a cold meat in a salad ,or in a sandwich for the person in a hurry known as a “Colt and Bolt “
We eat fish fingers don’t we. And fish don’t have fingers.
Now we know what happened Shergar
Because of Larry Goodman.
Anyone who has had dealings with the Guardia Civil will be aware that they don’t err. Ever. Not even when there is evidence that shows they erred.
have your say