MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
The Civil Guard has seized 45 tons of frozen tuna in four provinces, including Murcia, which was only authorized for canned consumption but was marketed as fresh, which quadrupled its value in the market, a fraud by which four people are being investigated.
The ‘Operation Atunali’, which has taken place in Alicante, Murcia, A Coruña and Barcelona, was initiated last January by the Seprona de la Comandancia alicantina and has had the collaboration of Interpol and Europol, according to the Institute. Armed.
At the moment there are four people investigated, between 49 and 59 years old, who are attributed an offense against public health, consumer fraud and falsification of documents, for which they can face penalties of one to four years. prison and possible administrative sanctions.
In a first phase of the operation, which remains open, the agents immobilized 10 tons of tuna of the bigeye tuna species because they did not have the traceability necessary for commercialization.
Later, they located in another wholesale establishment several lots of frozen yellowfin tuna that did not have certification of origin nor of the system used for their freezing; the body found that the company chopped the fish, coming from the Atlantic, and then distributed it as thawed or made with additives.
This fraud has involved three other companies and the three owners of the capture vessels, of French, Salvadoran and Panamanian nationality
With the help of the European Food Fraud Network of the European Commission, the Seprona found that the boats used did not have a brine immersion frozen system adapted to the new legislation, which establishes temperatures below -18º C for consumption human.
The ships, dedicated to supply to canning companies, destined the remainder of the captures to the clandestine market, where several distributors bought it at a price well below the value for fresh catches.
After thawing the tuna, the researchers processed their meat with additives that injected in quantities much higher than those recommended in order to give it a similar appearance to fresh.
In this way, the fish, which was only authorized to consume it in a can with a value lower than three euros per kilo, was put on sale as fresh for amounts of up to 14 euros per kilo.