Belgian man was key figure
The operation, jointly executed in seven different countries, resulted in 26 arrests. The network created fake certificates for the horses, allowing their introduction into the food chain. According to the French government, some 4,700 horses were sold as horse meat like that in the 2010-2013 time period.
The key figure is apparently a Belgian, and another three Belgians were arrested. Belgian Federal Service for Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment say however that the forged passports were definitely not created in Belgium as the local system is much more advanced than in other countries.
A similar scandal was uncovered some 2 years ago, when horse meat got into the prepared meal chain, in lasagnas for example. Several companies suffered quite heavily from that scandal, as many products were removed from stores and sales only gradually returned to their old levels.
