The Guardia di Finanza uncovered an international trafficking operation in counterfeit oil between Albania and Algeria. Nine people in Puglia, Sicily, and Tuscany are under investigation.

A three million euro illicit business based on the systematic counterfeiting of olive oil . This is what emerged from the complex investigation coordinated by the Lecce Public Prosecutor’s Office and conducted by the Casarano Guardia di Finanza, in close collaboration with the ICQRF (Central Inspectorate for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression). In the past few hours, the military has notified nine individuals residing in Puglia, Sicily, and Tuscany of the conclusion of their investigations. They are accused, on various counts, of commercial fraud, the sale of fake foodstuffs, ideological falsity in the Sian electronic registers, and issuing false invoices .

The investigation, launched in June 2023 and continuing throughout 2024, began with an inspection of an oil mill in lower Salento . Here, investigators found and sampled approximately 90,000 kilos of oil, marketed as extra virgin or virgin, of both national and European origin. Laboratory analyses conducted by the ICQRF in Catania, however, revealed a very different reality : the product not only had serious organoleptic defects, but its purity parameters were completely non-compliant with strict EU standards, as the liquid had been adulterated with oils other than olive oil . During the operations, chemicals used both to deodorize the “lampante” oil (of very low quality) , eliminating its structural defects, and to artificially flavor it , simulating the typical aromas of true extra virgin, were also seized.

Subsequent investigations have uncovered a much larger international trafficking network, quantifiable as approximately 300 tons of substandard product imported at rock-bottom prices from Algeria and Albania . Through a complex triangulation of supposedly fictitious invoices, issued by complicit companies located in Spain, Portugal, France, and Albania , the non-EU oil was nationalized and resold as “EU origin.” This was a veritable illicit promotion that, exploiting the sharp price increases recorded on the olive oil market in recent years, allowed the goods to be introduced into the commercial chain at inflated prices. Among the nine people under investigation are four Apulian entrepreneurs (three from Andria and one from the province of Lecce) linked to a wholesale import-export company in Salento .

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida , also weighed in on the matter, expressing deep satisfaction with the operation: “This action confirms the effectiveness of the fight against fraud and demonstrates our commitment to protecting the quality of Italian products and businesses operating legally. With the ColtivaItalia plan ,” the minister concluded, ” we will continue to strengthen the support tools available to defend Made in Italy products.”