The Civil Guard has dismantled a criminal group of eco-scammers that sold two million kilos of fruit and vegetables as organic products in an operation that dismantled food fraud internationally.
As part of Operation Obstteller, four people were arrested and 16 are being investigated by a aggravated fraud offensefalsification of documents, falsification of certificates, use of false certificates, against the Public Treasury and Social Security and membership in a criminal group.
This operation carried out by SEPRONA constitutes andThe biggest known success in Europe of the fake fruit and vegetable scam with a high level of knowledge of certification mechanisms.
Intended for Europe
The framework organized by the latter eco-scammers sold conventional fruits and vegetables as if they were organically produced in the main European markets, because in these markets Organic fruits and vegetables are much more expensive than conventional fruits..
The prisoners systematically falsified the production and sales certificates that the organic production control bodies must issue on the market. traceability of these fruits and vegetables.
More than 2 million kilos
According to the Interior Ministry, investigators believe that members of this criminal network have only been selling organic products in the last six months. more than two million kilos of conventionally produced fruits and vegetables.
Among those arrested are the owner of the company and his trusted men, but among those investigated are the operators who supplied conventional fruits and vegetables that It would come from ecological plots in the company of prisonersas well as the managers of the private companies that issued the false organic certificates accompanying this fruit and vegetable.
Laboratory collaboration
During the investigation phase, the agents of the SEPRONA They discovered that the prisoners also benefited from the collaboration of approved laboratories.
These laboratories They carried out multiple analyses on the products until they gave negative phytosanitary results.since its application is incompatible with organic production.
From Motril
Investigators also discovered that the company supplied fruits and vegetables harvested from plots that were not listed in the official records of the Organic Production Information System in Andalusia (SIPEA), which is mandatory. In addition, these fruits and vegetables then left the warehouses in Motril without traceability and with falsified documents.
This action against this organized network of eco-fraudsters began to take shape after an inspection carried out by SEPRONA agents at the company under investigation during the development phase of Operation Opson XI of the Civil Guard.
During the check irregularities were detected that made the civil guards suspicious that food fraud could occur with the sale of so-called organic products.
Counterfeit Food
The Civil Guard’s Opson XI operation aims to combat the production and trafficking of counterfeit food and the resulting economic fraud.
The operation against these eco-fraudsters benefited from the collaboration of the Agriculture, Livestock, Industry and Quality Service of the Territorial Delegation of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of the Junta of Andalusia in Granada and technicians from the Treasury Delegation of Granada.
