Contaminated seafood worth £8,000,000 seized from criminal gangs

Tom Sanders

Published December 19, 2024 6:54pm Updated December 19, 2024 6:54pm

Tainted seafood fished by criminal gangs has been seized by Europol (Picture: Europol)

Over 30 tonnes of contaminated seafood has been seized by European authorities, potentially saving millions of people from getting food poisoning over Christmas.

Footage released by Spain’s Guardia Civil shows police officers seizing molluscs and six tonnes of glass eels worth up to 10 million euros (£8.2 million) on the seafood market, which were illegally harvested b♎y🦩 organised criminal groups in Portugal and Spain.

The delicacies can fetch up to £25 per kilo, but poach꧂ing gangs exploited Asian workers by paying them just pennies per kilo for molluscs fished in contaminated waters in Portugal.

A total of 62 members of the group 𝓀were arrested by Europol, with authorities identify🌌ing six of the suspects as ‘High-Value Targets’.

Law enforcement authorities from France, Portugal and Spain, supported by Europol, have arrested 62 members of multiple organised criminal groups involved in the illegal fishing of contaminated molluscs in Portugal and Spain. The 17 action days also resulted in the seizure of 30 tonnes of molluscs and 6 tonnes of glass eels worth up to EUR 10 million on the seafood market. Six of the suspects are considered High Value Targets by authorities. — The seafood was deemed unsafe for human consumption (Picture: Europol)

The gangs mainly harvested Jaꦛpanese clams, which are a popular Christmas dish in Spain and Portugal, and falsified the documentation to present them as fit for consumption.

If undetected, this could have sparked a serious public health alarm consuming contaminated molluscs can put people at risk of developing se൲rious illnesses, including hepatitis.

The case is also notable for being the first proven crime in the Eur𒁏opean Union to combine environmental offences🌸 and human trafficking, Europol said.

In a statement, the agency said the gangs would ‘fish illegal𒆙ly in Portugal, sending the molluscs to Spain and on to the criminal networks.

‘The contrast between the price of the molluscs on the market and the fishers’ earnings led authorities to confirm the link between environmental crime and traff🦋icking in human beings for labour ♛exploitation for the first time ever in the EU.’