The Civil Guard investigates companies dedicated to the food sector for the fraudulent sale of meat products
In the SLICE operation, more than 63,000 containers of sliced products with manipulated labels have been intervened and 6 people have been arrested and another 2 investigated in the provinces of Madrid, Badajoz and Córdoba
They labeled and used false traceability of meat products to pretend that they were Iberian
On the other hand, Seprona agents of the Salamanca Command have investigated a man and a woman for the irregular sale of Iberian products illegally using the image of the Protected Designation of Origin (D.O.P) Guijuelo
The Civil Guard, in two actions carried out in Madrid and Salamanca, has investigated companies dedicated to the food sector for the fraudulent sale of meat products. To do this, in some cases they labeled and used false traceability of meat products to pretend that they were Iberian; and in others they illegally used the image of the Protected Designation of Origin (D.O.P) Guijuelo to sell Iberian products.
SLICE operation
SEPRONA agents of the Madrid Civil Guard Command, in the SLICE operation, have arrested 6 people and investigated another 2, belonging to seven food companies located in the provinces of Madrid, Córdoba, Toledo and Badajoz, which are engaged in manipulating and falsifying the traceability and labeling of meat product packaging. They are charged with crimes against public health, fraud, forgery, against industrial property and theft related to the market and consumers.
A total of 63,123 packages of sliced products have been seized, which in the market would have reached a value of 967,000 euros and would have caused a risk to public health, as they were considered unfit for consumption.
The investigation began last year when suspicious documentation was detected regarding some batches of packages of sliced loin, shoulder and ham that had been prepared for marketing as Iberian and Iberian bait products in a warehouse in Córdoba, and from where They were sent to a major supermarket chain for sale nationwide, which was unaware of the falsity of the products.
The analysis of the documentation of the Food Quality Area of the Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid and the Agrifood Quality Control Service of the Junta de Andalucía, as well as information provided by certifiers, led to irregularities related to a possible falsification of documents and / or duplication in batches at the national level.
Later, in a logistics center in Getafe of the supermarket chain, 5,768 packages of supposedly Iberian products were immobilized ready to be sold. The agents discovered that in other logistics centers of the same chain, located in the provinces of Córdoba, Toledo, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Alicante, Almería, Cádiz, Zaragoza and Valladolid, they had stored thousands of containers with Iberian products that also presented the The same irregularities related to the use of commercial health records of third companies without their consent, as well as falsification and manipulation in their traceability and labeling.
In these centers, so that these fake Iberian products were not introduced into the food market, a total of 56,100 more packages of sliced products were immobilized.
For more information, you can contact the Peripheral Communication Office of the Madrid Command at the telephones: 918.073.902 and 696.909.741.
Fraudulent marketing of hams with Denomination of Origin
In another action, SEPRONA agents from the Salamanca Civil Guard Command learned of the existence of a company dedicated to the sale of cured pork products, which had two physical stores in the province of Jaén and a website direct sale to the public, which could be fraudulently selling such products, especially hams. To do this, it would be usurping trademarks, especially belonging to the Protected Denomination of Origin (D.O.P) Guijuelo and breaching the quality standard of the Iberian, with the consequent damage to buyers and the risk to public health.
Those responsible for the company, a man and a woman residing in La Carolina (Jaén) with various police records, have been investigated as alleged perpetrators of fraud, against industrial property and against consumers.
The investigation carried out allowed us to discover how the aforementioned company sold hams as "100% acorn" and originating in the D.O.P Guijuelo, advertised at a price significantly lower than those legally marketed under that name, in order to obtain great economic benefits.
The agents found the following irregularities in the products they offered on their website for sale to the public:
- They lacked seals that protected said products by the D.O.P Guijuelo.
- The hams that had a seal did not correspond to an official seal of the Iberian quality standard, or of the D.O.P Guijuelo.
- The vitola that the ham carried, qualifying the product as 100% acorn-fed Iberian ham, was incorrect as it did not comply with the Iberian quality standard and also those stipulated in the D.O.P Guijuelo. Also the order of the denomination was incorrect, having to be, in case of truth, acorn-fed 100% Iberian ham.
- The commercial label had a logo of the D.O.P Guijuelo printed on it, inducing the consumer to think that it is a product covered by that denomination.
- On the ham vitola, the health oval was observed with the health registration number of a company that produces Iberian products based in the province of Salamanca, which was not aware of, nor had it consented to, its use, not having any commercial relationship with the trademark author of the facts.
- The company investigated lacked any authorization for the use of the names "100% Iberian" and "acorn."
Therefore, the agents registered the two physical establishments that the company hams and sausages had in the province of Jaén, accompanied by veterinarians belonging to the Ministry of Health and Families of the Junta de Andalucía.
More than a thousand vitolas and labels with the falsified logos of the D.O.P Guijuelo and several companies from Salamanca have been intervened, as well as 7 hams and loins already falsely labeled and ready for shipment. On the part of the veterinarian, numerous hams and loins were immobilized as their traceability could not be demonstrated, nor could they guarantee their fitness for consumption.
The investigation has been carried out by agents belonging to SEPRONA of the Salamanca Civil Guard Command, who have had the support of the Lora del Río (Seville) Judicial Police Team and the Jaén Nature Protection Team .
For more information, you can contact the Peripheral Communication Office of the Salamanca Command at 923.127.240.
