ASAE Arrests Illegal Refinery Owner, Seizes 3.1 Tons of Seafood

ASAE has opened a criminal case for disobedience and ordered the arrest of the owner of the treatment plant in Caldas da Rainha for failing to comply with an order to close the plant, where 3.1 tons of shellfish were seized.

“A criminal case has been opened for disobedience and a decision has been taken to immediately detain the legal representative for transfer to the competent judicial authority,” the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) said on Friday following its inspection of the facility for cleaning and shipping live bivalve mollusks and storing live fish products in Caldas da Rainha, Leiria district.

The treatment facility was already inspected on July 8, when ASAE seized “2,477 kilograms of live bivalves and crustaceans, namely clams, cockles, crabs, spider crabs and oysters” and ordered the facility, which was unlicensed, to cease operations.

The total value of the first seizure was 16,340 euros.

In a new investigation carried out by the Southern Regional Unit – Santarem Operations Unit, ASAE found that the company “continued its activities in defiance without having the proper license to do so” and ordered the opening of a criminal case for the crime.

During the inspection, 631 kilograms of live bivalves and crustaceans, “namely clams, cockles, crabs, spider crabs and oysters, as well as various equipment to support activities, with a total value of 16,708.00 euros,” the report said. ASAE note.

Thanks to this intervention and taking into account the results of the inspection carried out in early July, “were seized [no total] “3.1 tonnes of live bivalve molluscs from this economic operator,” said ASAE, which remained committed to suspending the activity due to the lack of a licence, veterinary control number and non-compliance with the requirements for handling bivalve molluscs.