The investigation, carried out by the Guardia Civil in conjunction with Italy’s carabinieri and Europol, led to raids in both countries and the searching of olive-processing cooperatives in the Spanish provinces of Ciudad Real, Jaén and Córdoba.
Suspicions were first raised when Guardia Civil officers discovered “a series of anomalies” while inspecting a lorry that was transporting olive oil in Ciudad Real region.
“A mix of various factors, such as the general inflation of prices, reduced olive oil production and increasing demand, have created the perfect breeding ground for fraudulent producers,” it said.
“Mixing consumer-grade olive oil with lower grade alternatives allowed the criminals to offer competitive prices while entering legal supply chains.
Spanish production has been hit by drought and heatwaves of more than 40C, while the crisis has been exacerbated by extreme weather in other olive-producing countries such as Greece, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco.
Extra virgin olive oil is not the only Spanish culinary staple to fall victim to criminal gangs in recent years.
The original article contains 583 words, the summary contains 167 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The investigation, carried out by the Guardia Civil in conjunction with Italy’s carabinieri and Europol, led to raids in both countries and the searching of olive-processing cooperatives in the Spanish provinces of Ciudad Real, Jaén and Córdoba.
Suspicions were first raised when Guardia Civil officers discovered “a series of anomalies” while inspecting a lorry that was transporting olive oil in Ciudad Real region.
“A mix of various factors, such as the general inflation of prices, reduced olive oil production and increasing demand, have created the perfect breeding ground for fraudulent producers,” it said.
“Mixing consumer-grade olive oil with lower grade alternatives allowed the criminals to offer competitive prices while entering legal supply chains.
Spanish production has been hit by drought and heatwaves of more than 40C, while the crisis has been exacerbated by extreme weather in other olive-producing countries such as Greece, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco.
Extra virgin olive oil is not the only Spanish culinary staple to fall victim to criminal gangs in recent years.
The original article contains 583 words, the summary contains 167 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!