Police in Spain, Italy seize 5,000 litres of adulterated olive oil in raids

“They mixed cloudy oils – a sub-product of the olive oil producing process – with better quality olive oil so as to obtain the correct levels of fats and [other substances] to allow them to be sold. They also impeded traceability by not registering their companies’ oils.”

The carabinieri discovered a similar alleged falsification operation involving two important oil-processing companies in Italy.

“Eight simultaneous searches were carried out in Spain and Italy and 11 people were arrested,” the statement said. “As a result of the searches, more than 5,200 litres of market-ready, adulterated olive has been seized, along with €91,000 [£78,000] in cash and four high-end vehicles. A number of bank accounts have also been blocked.”

In a statement, Europol said the counterfeiting of olive oil was a common practice.

“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.

Global production is expected to fall to 2.4m tonnes, according to the International Olive Council, less than last year’s harvest and well short of global demand of about 3m tonnes.

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.

Spain, which produces half the world’s olive oil, is expected to produce 765,000 tonnes this year – more than the 664,00 produced in last year’s poor harvest but well short of the 1.3m tonnes or so that could be counted on in past years.

Extra virgin olive oil is not the only Spanish culinary staple to fall victim to criminal gangs in recent years. In May 2021, Spanish police and customs officers arrested 17 people and seized half a tonne of saffron after breaking up a gang that allegedly imported the spice from Iran, bulked it out and sold it as the protected and much-prized Spanish variety from La Mancha. Proper Spanish saffron, used to give paella its distinctive yellow hue, costs around €9 a gram.