Horse meat sold to restaurants as burger beef, big kidnapping in Brazil

Horse meat clandestinely slaughtered and sold to various places, passing it off as beef: six people are arrested in Brazil

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They clandestinely slaughtered the horses to resell the meat to various restaurants, passing it off as beef. This is what happened in the Caxias do Sul region, in Brazil, where up to about 60% of the locals in the area offered their customers burgers and horsemeat steaks, ignoring where the raw material really came from. In total, over 800 kilos of products were sold every week by the criminal organization unmasked by the Rio Grande do Sul public ministry. The maxi operation, conducted by the Special Action Group for the Fight against Organized Crime (Gaeco), ended with six arrests. 

But it doesn't end there. The Brazilian law enforcement agencies also found that in the preparations resold by the group of criminals they were also used by now spoiled meat scraps of pork and turkey. 

The investigation, undertaken about two months ago, was initiated by the report by the Agricultural Defense Inspectorate of Caxias do Sul of illegal slaughtering of horses in the region. So after a series of interceptions and DNA analysis of the meat in question, the police intervened and arrested six people, accused of managing an abusive slaughterhouse with poor sanitation conditions. In addition, about one and a half tons of meat was seized in the Mírus Hambúrguer Ltda factories of the criminal gang. 

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Read also: The unspeakable horror of horse meat from Argentina ending up on your plate

"Although they are not covered with violence or serious threats against the person, these are serious crimes committed against public health - declared the judge of the IV Criminal Chamber of Caxias do Sul, Maria Cristina Rech - with the intense marketing of butchered meat , produced, stored and sold illegally from start to finish, without any type of inspection and monitoring by a qualified professional to ensure the safety of production. And the final consumer is not aware of the risk they are exposed to when buying meat ".

It is by no means the first time that such a serious episode has occurred. In 2013, Europe was also overwhelmed by the food scandal concerning horse meat, sold as beef (and used for various frozen products) in various countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden and France. 

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Source: Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul

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