Brussels, 06/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - A Franco-Italian-Belgian network said to have produced and marketed 16,000 tonnes for adulterated butter - part of which is said to have been consumed - for 45 million euro has been dismantled thanks to an investigation undertaken by the Italian police in cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) and the French and Belgian police. The adulterated butter was, notably, made up of beef suet, and fatty matters earmarked for the cosmetics industry. It was used for the preparation of foodstuffs and concentrated butter. Although, according to Olaf, "a substantial quantity has been seized, part of it has indeed been sold. In addition, one cannot be sure that the traffic involved exactly 16,000 tonnes."
The traffic, managed by a Napolitan mafia clan, is said to have lasted from 1997 to 19999. It had a second dimension, fraud at the expense of Community subsidies, which warranted Olaf's intervention. Indeed, the EU pays subsidies for the export of butter to third countries, as well as for the processing of butter for the manufacture of baking products. The adulterated butter thus benefited from subsidies, for an as yet unknown amount. According to AFP, the CEO of the establishment Flechard (Val de Marner, France) is said to be under investigation in this affair.