Weevil-infested flour, deadly methanol added to alcohol, borax to make products seem fresher, pesticide-laced shrimp, fake medicines. Global police organisation Interpol today detailed a multi-agency operation that dismantled nearly 50 criminal networks worldwide that provided fake and substandard food and drink that put people in danger and killed dozens. Operation Opson, as the widespread was called, recovered some 3,620 tonnes and nearly 10 million litres of hazardous fake food and drink, with a value of EUR 55 million, it said in a release. Results included:

41,283 Checks carried out
14,474,091 Items seized
749 Arrests
705 Search warrants executed
49 Criminal networks dismantled
66 Illegal factories shut down

Examples of cases from the press release:

“In Jordan, 90 tonnes of flour infested with weevils due to poor storage were seized, and in Bulgaria, officers confiscated pork meat which carried trichinosis – a parasitic disease caused by roundworms. Investigations later revealed 12 people tested positive for the disease after eating the infected meat.

Vietnamese authorities seized nearly 1.5 tonnes of Monosodium glutamate (MSG) which was either fake or of unknown origin, together with packaging machines. Officials also seized more than 10,000 kg of noodles containing borax and 6.7 tonnes of bamboo shoots and roots which had been soaked in unidentified chemicals to make them appear fresh.

In Russia, officials identified and shut down 48 underground factories. In total more than 1.6 million litres of illegally produced alcohol were seized and criminal proceedings have been launched against 282 people. Officials also seized smuggled tobacco products worth an estimated EUR7 million which had been hidden in bran and sawdust in nine train wagons.”

“Organized crime groups involved in the production and distribution of fake food and drink often use the same networks for other types of crime,” it said. “Thousands of counterfeit or expired medicines, which pose a significant risk to public health, were seized in Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania.”

It added: “In China, an intelligence-led operation targeting substandard food supplements and falsified medicines being sold online resulted in the arrest of more than 20 suspects. Two factories and three warehouses were dismantled, with more than 20,000 boxes of illicit supplements and medicines confiscated. Ten computers, 30 mobile phones and an Internet server were seized, bringing the total value of the items confiscated to around EUR 1 million.”