Law enforcement authorities in Spain and Italy seized more than 5,000 liters of olive oil tampered with in operations, according to The Guardian report. They detained eleven people during the raids, dismantling an international gang that allegedly sought to sell cheaper, lower quality olive oils as if they were their more expensive equivalents, the virgin olive oils and extra virgin, as indicated in the December 4 report.
The investigation, carried out by the Guardia Civil in conjunction with Italy's carabinieri and Europol, resulted in raids in both countries and the search for olive processing cooperatives in the Spanish provinces of Ciudad Real, Jaén and Córdoba, according to the report.
Following the identification of “a series of anomalies” by Guardia Civil officers during the inspection of a truck transporting olive oil in the Ciudad Real region, police discovered a two-pronged operation in Spain and Italy, with the aim of introduce adulterated olive oil into the global market, The Guardian reported.
“In Spain, they used a company related to the acquisition of lower category olive oils to carry out modifications in cloudy and low-quality olive oils, transforming them into virgin and extra virgin, and later sold them by falsifying documents,” the police said in a statement.
In Italy, carabinieri uncovered a similar alleged counterfeiting operation involving two large olive oil processing companies, as detailed in the report.
The statement said authorities conducted eight simultaneous searches in Spain and Italy, resulting in the arrest of 11 people. During the operations, more than 5,200 liters of market-ready adulterated olive oil were seized, along with €91,000 [US$ 99,300] in cash and four high-end vehicles. In addition, authorities blocked several bank accounts as part of the measures taken.
Europol, in a statement, mentioned that counterfeiting olive oil is a common practice.
“General price inflation contributes. The reduction in olive oil production is one factor. The increase in demand too. These elements create ideal conditions for fraudulent producers,” he said.
Olive oil counterfeiting and challenges in the industry
The inferior quality of olive oil alternatives has allowed criminals to offer competitive prices, infiltrating legal supply chains and deceiving consumers. This illegal practice not only poses a risk to public health, but also undermines consumer confidence and can have significant economic repercussions.
Olive oil prices are on the rise in Europe. This is due to drought and adverse weather conditions during harvests. The increase is observed for the second consecutive year, as reported.
According to the International Olive Council, global production is forecast to decline, reaching 2.4 million tonnes. This number is below last year's harvest and is considerably lower than global demand, which is around 3 million tons.
Droughts and heat waves exceeding 40ºC damaged production in Spain. Extreme weather conditions in olive-producing countries such as Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal and Turkey have intensified the crisis. The Guardian reported these impacts.
Spain, the world leader in olive oil production, could reach 765,000 tons this year, surpassing the 664,000 tons of the last difficult harvest. However, this is still below the 1.3 million tonnes in previous years, according to the report.
Source: Oils & Fats International
