Advertisement

Avoid 'bargain' luxury produce: French police

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Avoid 'bargain' luxury produce: French police
Is that real Caviar or dodgy counterfeit 'Aquitaine Caviar'? Photo: Janek Skarzynsky/AFP

A French police chief involved in a global crackdown on counterfeit produce, including fake caviar found in France, has warned it's better to avoid luxury products offered at bargain basement prices.

Advertisement

Lyon-based Interpol revealed on Monday that it had netted thousands of tonnes of fake food and drink, including imitation caviar found in France.

Operation Opson 4 was run by Interpol and its EU sister agency Europol in 47 countries during December and January, 20 of them within the European Union.

French customs uncovered dubious Chinese caviar in boxes marked "Aquitaine caviar" after one of France's most famous seafood-producing regions, as well as 17 tonnes of krill meat hidden in containers in the Channel port of Le Havre.

Colonel Bruno Manin, the head of the French police's unit involved in Opson 4, said: "When a high-end product is offered at three to four times cheaper than in the shop it's better to resist the lure."

Trafficking in fake food and drink appeals to criminals as it produces hefty profits and poses a low risk, especially when the deal is done online.

"The internet is definitely a strong accelerator for these crimes," as it makes it difficult to track fraudsters, Manin said.

In all some 2,500 tonnes of fake and substandard food and more than 275,000 litres of fake or diluted alcohol -- enough to fill more than 1,000 bathtubs -- were confiscated.

The haul included 20,000 litres of fake whisky in Thailand, false malt in Uganda and fake beer in Rwanda. In Britain, police shut down an imitation vodka factory, where nearly 20,000 empty bottles were ready to be filled, Lyon-based Interpol said.

In Italy, the carabinieri busted a mozzarella trafficking ring in the southern Salerno region that made the famous cheese from sour milk produced in Eastern Europe.

In Tuscany, police discovered defrosted rotten fish and shellfish sprayed with a mix of citric acid, phosphate and hydrogen to mask its decay.

The two-month-long swoop targeted shops, markets, airports, harbours and industrial zones and involved police and customs officers as well as public and private consumer watchdogs.

The cross-border syndicates focused mainly on alcoholic beverages, seafood and meat, Interpol said.

"Fake and substandard food and diluted, poor quality beverages are a real health and safety threat," said Mike Ellis, who heads the Interpol unit that tracks the trafficking of illicit goods.

"People take significant risks and sometimes die because of criminals' greed," he said.
   

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also