Published on: 23 Oct 2024Europol, OLAF, DG SANTE, DG AGRI, and 29 countries across Europe, as well as food and beverage producers from the private sector, joined forces in the 2024 edition of operation OPSON. This yearly operation, now in its thirteenth run, targets counterfeit as well as substandard food and beverages. Law enforcement, customs, and food regulatory agencies seized around 22 000 tonnes of food and around 850 000 litres of (mostly alcoholic) beverages.

OPSON XIII results:

• 11 criminal networks dismantled,
• 104 arrest warrants issued,
• 184 search warrants issued,
• 278 persons reported to judicial authorities,
• 5 821 checks and inspections performed.

In total, goods valued at over EUR 91 million were taken off the market.

Food fraud, the counterfeiting of food and beverages, and the abuse of geographical indications constitutes a significant and serious crime area which needs to be tackled on an international level. Operation OPSON’s goal is to protect public health and safety and to ultimately dismantle the organised criminal networks involved. Europol and all of the involved partners fight on all fronts against this crime area, which includes activities in physical as well as online markets – such as e-commerce platforms - and the complete food supply chain from raw materials to final product.

This year’s food crime trends

Investigators across Europe noticed a continued trend in fraudsters selling expired food. Infiltrating waste disposal companies, they get their hands on masses of expired food that should be destroyed. After simply erasing and re-printing the expiration dates or printing and attaching new labels, they re-introduce the expired products into the supply chain. As far as counterfeit and wrongly designated foods are concerned, olive oil and wines featuring a protected designation of origin (PDO) are the most affected types of products.

The Spanish Guardia Civil, in collaboration with the Italian Carabinieri and Europol, arrested four persons and seized about 120 000 cans of tuna as well as 45 000 litres of oil. The detained owners of a canning company in La Rioja (Logroño) prepared the canned products with tuna of lower quality than indicated on the label, as well as with sunflower oil or pomace labelled as olive oil, thus managing to market the products at prices much lower than their competitors.

Across Spain, the Guardia Civil took action against counterfeiters of products such as oil, ham, or cheese. In Valencia, a pickle production company was investigated for selling products unfit for consumption due to the addition of illegal dyes and preservatives. 80 tonnes of product, much of which was ready for sale and consumption, were seized.

The Italian Carabinieri Anti-Adulteration and Public Health Units (Nuclei Antisofisticazione e Sanità dell’Arma dei Carabinieri, NAS) in collaboration with other authorities identified and seized approximately 42 tonnes of adulterated oil. The product, marketed as Italian extra virgin olive oil, was either ready for distribution, or - in some cases – had already entered the market. Officers seized searched various locations such as warehouses and also seized 71 tonnes of oily substances, contained in plastic tubs and cans of various sizes as well as 623 litres of chlorophyll used for the adulteration of oils. The total value of the seized items, which includes packaging equipment, labels, a transport vehicle, forklifts, and electronics amounting to EUR 900 000.

Also in Italy, the Carabinieri dismantled a criminal network dedicated to counterfeiting wines with a protected designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographic indication (PGI). The criminals falsified electronic cellar registers of a wine quality certification body to mislabel wines with a DOC certificate. As a result of this investigation, around 60 000 litres of counterfeit wine were seized.

As reported by Europol before, an investigation led by the French Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale), involving the Italian Carabinieri and Swiss Federal Police (Police Federale Swiss), supported by Europol and Eurojust, has led to the dismantling of a criminal network counterfeiting French Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) wines in Italy. The criminal network faked French red wine, charging up to EUR 15 000 per bottle. The fake wine was forged in Italy, then delivered to an Italian airport and exported for sale at market value all over the world by honest wine traders. The operation led to six arrests and seizures valued at EUR 1.4 million, as well as over EUR 100 000 in cash and documents.