Spanish and Italian authorities last month arrested eleven people believed to be members of an international criminal network that sold poor-quality olive oil as extra virgin olive oil. The European police organization Europol reported this today.
They seized almost 100,000 euros in cash and barrels containing 260,000 liters of adulterated olive oil.
The investigation was carried out by the Spanish Guardia Civil, working together with the Italian Carabinieri and Europol. It started when the Guardia Civil discovered “a series of unusual features” while inspecting a truck in Ciudad Real, between Madrid and Seville. They discovered an international network that wanted to market the adulterated oil.
Raids and seizures
The Carabinieri, the Italian military police, discovered a similar counterfeiting operation in Italy. Simultaneously, Spanish and Italian authorities raided eight locations. Six suspects were arrested around Ciudad Real, and twelve barrels of adulterated oil were seized.
In the Italian provinces of Sicily and Tuscany, authorities inspected three oil factories suspected of being involved in the network.
The criminals mixed good-quality olive oil with a byproduct of olive oil production and sold it as extra virgin olive oil. The byproduct was used in the past as fuel for oil lamps and has a bad taste and odor. To reduce their chances of being caught, the traders had not registered their companies.
Rising prices
Due to extreme weather conditions in the Mediterranean, the price of olive oil has been rising for years. Spain produces about half of all olive oil worldwide, and Italy is the second-largest producer. In Italy, olive oil is 50 percent more expensive than a year ago, and in Spain, it is even 67 percent more expensive. The price of good extra-virgin olive oil has almost tripled compared to last year.
Bloomberg news agency calculated last month that making a pizza in Italy costs more than 8 percent more than last year. A Spanish paella even costs 20.6 percent more than a year ago.
According to the International Olive Council, an intergovernmental organization of olive-producing countries, global olive oil production will fall to 2.4 million tons next year, well below global demand of 3 million tons.
Yesterday, Greek police arrested two men for olive oil fraud. The pair, an 80-year-old man and his 36-year-old son, sold sunflower oil as extra virgin olive oil. More than 13,000 liters of sunflower oil, which passed for olive oil, was seized.
