La Guardia Civil, in collaboration with Europol and the Italian Carabinieri, has confiscated 120,000 cans of canned tuna and 45,000 liters of oil in the ‘Matsu’ operation across Alfaro and Cervera (La Rioja), Spain. This operation has resulted in the arrest of four individuals, two men and two women, and involves the ‘Plaza Chica’ brand, as reported by SER. The canned goods were being adulterated for resale despite being in an unsanitary condition.
According to the Government Delegation of La Rioja, the majority of the seized cans were intended for supplying small local businesses and major food chains in Spain and Italy, especially during the holiday season. Tuna cans that couldn’t be sold in Italy were returned and re-labeled under unhygienic conditions for reintroduction into the market, causing significant harm to public health and the end consumer.
Miguel Ángel Sáez, the spokesperson for the Civil Guard in La Rioja, stated that during the search of one of the company’s premises, agents discovered an underground workspace lacking basic hygiene measures. In this area, two large containers filled with hot water were found, containing numerous tuna cans returned by buyers.
Without proper sanitation for food handling, labels were removed from the cans for subsequent reintroduction into the market with fake health registrations and expiration dates. Additionally, it was observed that water from the containers had been introduced into some of these manipulated cans, causing rust marks on their lids, leading to further harm to public health and the end consumer.
Another facility had a store for direct retail of their products, where the same canned tuna was found labeled only in Italian. This goes against current regulations, as any product sold in Spain must be labeled, at least, in Spanish.
This network’s activities date back several years, utilizing raw materials of significantly lower price and quality than indicated on their labels. This allowed them to reduce production costs and exponentially increase profits at the expense of consumers, seriously harming other legal businesses in the sector.
The intervention began in late August following an initial complaint, which highlighted various irregularities in the company’s operations. A total of 40 analyses were conducted on the tuna cans sold by the company in Spain and Italy, with the Center for Research and Quality Control – CICC – and two other independent laboratories certifying that 33 of the 40 samples labeled as ‘olive oil’ contained sunflower or olive pomace oil.
In another sample, the tuna was of lower quality than described. Once all evidence of criminal activity was collected, judicial authorities were requested for corresponding search warrants at the company’s premises and a residence. A total of 120,000 cans of canned tuna and 45,000 liters of oil were seized and sealed, along with samples of canned goods, tuna pieces, oils, and water for analysis. Additionally, hard drives, mobile phones, a server, and extensive documentation were confiscated for further study.
