The Civil Guard uncovers a plot of irregular administration of medicines in animals
The operation has resulted in the arrest / investigation of 13 people, in addition to practicing 2 records to veterinary commercial
500 prescriptions issued on behalf of herds have been detected, either "inactive" or that never received the drugs
There are 5 farmers investigated for intrusiveness when administering medications that only qualified veterinarians can apply and 4 veterinarians for documentary falsification
The Civil Guard, in the framework of Operation "SPERANDIA", has arrested the owner of a veterinary commercial and has investigated another 12 people for their alleged participation, in different degrees of authorship, in crimes against public health, of forgery , of professional intrusion and belonging to a criminal group.
The investigation began last August in the field of OPERATION PANGEA XI, coordinated by the Civil Guard within the framework of EUROPOL and dedicated to the fight against illegal drug trafficking.
Following an inspection carried out by the SEPRONA in a trade dedicated to veterinary activities in Burgos, important anomalies and irregularities were discovered when observing that prescriptions were issued on behalf of "inactive" livestock farms in the Basque Country and Cantabria.
Issued 500 clandestine recipes
However, the fact that these were not the real addressees of the medicines attracted attention, either because the owner did not already have the exploitation that appeared in the prescriptions or because he or she was not a customer of that commercial.
The investigations showed that these recipes were validated by three different veterinarians, who apparently signed the recipes at the request of the owner of the commercial without any treatment to the animals.
After the first investigations it was verified that almost 500 medicines had left the commercial with unknown destination, protected by the signature of veterinarians that have finally been investigated for falsification of official document and belonging to a criminal group.
As a result of this discovery the research intensified, to find out the fate of these and other medicines, whose administration is exclusive of veterinarians, of which 5 livestock farmers in the provinces of Burgos and Palencia have been investigated by professional intrusion.
They have been arrested J.C.N.F. (45), and investigated L.MM (32), S.T.S. (42), S.A.G. (69), F.T.A. (71), L.M.N.T. (56), F.A.C. (61), J.L.C.R. (64), A.C.D. (58) F.J.C.D. (62), F.B.R. (65), A.H.V. (22), J.P.M. (39).
The operation has been directed by the Court of Instruction No. 2 of Burgos, where the proceedings have been delivered and coordinated by the SEPRONA Section of the Commandery of Burgos. It has had the collaboration of the Diputación de Vizcaya, the Junta de Castilla y León, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the Board of Veterinarians of Spain.
According to the experts of the competent bodies consulted, the irregularities indicated lead to an improper use of medicines subject to veterinary prescription, due to the lack of adequate control, supervision and responsibility of the health professionals, both in the dispensing of medicines (pharmaceutical), as in the prescription of said medicines (veterinarians). So these facts could cause serious and unnecessary risks to animal health, human health and the environment.
This type of illicit activities, where there is an incorrect use of medicines that have antibiotics as an active ingredient, could lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance with the associated risks, not only for veterinary medicine, but also for human medicine. The development of bacteria resistant to this type of medicine constitutes one of the most serious threats to public health.
In order to avoid this type of illicit practices, the Civil Guard is intensifying the controls on prescription of veterinary medicines destined to livestock farms to prevent the irregular dispensation destined to supply animals.
For more information contact O.P.C. of Comandancia de Burgos, telephone 947-244853, 947-244664 and mobile 639-300526, 669-872112.
