26 arrests over horse meat ring

TWENTY-six people have been arrested across Europe after a vast investigation by 100 French gendarmes and their EU counterparts into the illegal trade of horse meat.

Some of the arrests were carried out in the south of France, with an abbatoir in the Bouches-du-Rhône identified as being part of the operation.

French authorities believe that between 4,700 horses unfit for human consumption were killed and entered the food chain between 2010 and 2013.

The suspected ringleader was arrested in the Belgian town of Arlon, in the Ardennes. Other arrests were made in the Netherlands and Germany.

Police seized evidence from four properties and €37,000 in cash as well as about 800 documents. Some 200 horses were taken away for veterinary checks.

No link has been established with the 2013 horse-meat scandal, which centered around frozen food manufacturer Spanghero, a supplier to 16 European countries.

In that case, a French government inquiry revealed that horse meat from Romania - via a complex supply chain involving the Netherlands and Cyprus - was incorrectly sold as beef.