Police in Europe Break Up Network Selling Illegal Horse Meat
By RAPHAEL MINDERJULY 17, 2017
GENEVA — The police in Europe have dismantled a criminal network
that was selling horse meat across the Continent that was "not suitable for consumption," arresting 66 people as part of a four-year investigation prompted by the discovery in Ireland of horse meat in burgers sold as beef.
The Pan-European investigation began after a scandal over horse meat in burgers in Ireland in 2013,
and it was widened to other European countries as dishes like frozen lasagna labeled as containing beef were found to have horse meat.
In Spain, horse slaughtering became an increasingly divisive issue during the recent financial crisis, as animal welfare associations denounced
an uptick in the slaughtering, as well as the illegal killing, of animals whose owners said they could no longer afford to keep them.
The European Union has sought to tighten quality controls on meat imports, tussling this year with Brazil over whether to
ban meat shipments after a police investigation in the country uncovered corruption involving food-sanitation inspectors.