Police in Europe Break Up Network Selling Illegal Horse Meat<br />By RAPHAEL MINDERJULY 17, 2017<br />GENEVA — The police in Europe have dismantled a criminal network<br />that was selling horse meat across the Continent that was "not suitable for consumption," arresting 66 people as part of a four-year investigation prompted by the discovery in Ireland of horse meat in burgers sold as beef.<br />The Pan-European investigation began after a scandal over horse meat in burgers in Ireland in 2013,<br />and it was widened to other European countries as dishes like frozen lasagna labeled as containing beef were found to have horse meat.<br />In Spain, horse slaughtering became an increasingly divisive issue during the recent financial crisis, as animal welfare associations denounced<br />an uptick in the slaughtering, as well as the illegal killing, of animals whose owners said they could no longer afford to keep them.<br />The European Union has sought to tighten quality controls on meat imports, tussling this year with Brazil over whether to<br />ban meat shipments after a police investigation in the country uncovered corruption involving food-sanitation inspectors.
