12 þúsund tonn af ólöglegum og hugsanlega hættulegum matvælum og drykkjum | Ísland með í aðgerðum

Í gær lagði Evrópulögreglan Europol hald á 12.000 tonn af ólöglegum og hugsanlega hættulegum matvælum og drykkjum að verðmæti um 28 milljónir evra.

Meira en 2000 tonn af áfengi var gert upptækt, korn, unnar afurðir, kaffi og te og krydd var á meðal þess sem gert var upptækt. Þá var lagt hald á mikið magn af saffran eða 90 kg á Spáni og 7 kg í Belgíu, en áætlað verðmæti er um 306 þúsund evrur.

Bandarísk stjórnvöld lögðu t.a.m. hald á 147 kg af hráu apríkósukjarnakjöti sem seld voru sem lækning við krabbameini.

Rannsóknin stóð yfir frá desember 2019 til júní 2020. 406 einstaklingar hafa verið handteknir í tengslum við málið.  Er þetta í níunda sinn sem að evrópulögreglan stendur fyrir aðgerðum gegn ólöglegum matvælum.

Sjá einnig:

Fölsuð matvæli og drykkir að verðmæti 100 milljónir evra gerð upptæk

Ísland með í aðgerðum

Aðgerðin í gær var skipulögð af Europol lögreglunni í samstarfi við löggæsluyfirvalda frá 83 löndum og þar á meðal hér á Íslandi.

Aðgerðin á Íslandi snérist að miklu leyti um steikinga-, og ólifuolíu, en ekki kemur fram í skýrslu Europol hvaða tegund það var.

Listi yfir aðgerða má lesa hér að neðan:

#1 Focus on dairy products

Participating countries: Bulgaria, Italy, France, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland

The project resulted in the seizures of 320 tonnes of smuggled or substandard dairy products. National authorities seized rotten milk and cheese which posed a threat to consumer health. Additionally, 210 tonnes of cheese were seized, which did not meet the conditions to be labelled with a protected geographic denomination.

A Bulgarian investigation into an unregistered warehouse revealed seven samples of cheese tested positive for starch and E.coli. The authorities seized 3.6 tonnes of unsafe dairy products, which were supposed to be processed into melted cheese.

#2 Targeted action on olive oil

Participating countries: Albania, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Jordan, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Spain

A total of 149 tonnes of cooking oil was seized as a result of this targeted action led by Greece. About 88 tonnes from the seizures were olive oil and were reported by Albania, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain.

In Italy, during a check on a company producing olive oil, inspectors found a surplus of product, which was not registered in the official documents of the company, thus more than 66 tonnes of olive oil were seized.

#3 Targeted action on alcohol and wine

Participating countries: Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, France, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, UK

Law enforcement authorities, coordinated by OLAF, seized 1.2 million litres of alcoholic beverages, with the largest quantity being wine. Norwegian authorities seized more than 5 000 litres of vodka smuggled in a trailer.

#4 Targeted action on horse passports and horse meat

Participating countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, UK

As a response to this dangerous criminal trend, Europol launched a dedicated project to support national authorities in combating the sale of illegal horse meat, led by Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands and supported by DG SANTE.

Myndir: europol.eu