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Pesticide-laced tangerine scandal/ Berat Prosecution seeks arrest of 3 people

2025-02-26 21:27:00, Aktualitet CNA

The Berat Prosecutor's Office has ordered the arrest of 3 people in connection with the pesticide scandal in tangerines. The arrested individuals are collector Arben Dyli, inspector Elson Tahiraj, and farmer Elton Tafa.

They are charged with "Abuse of office," "Violation of regulations on poisonous substances," "Production and sale of food dangerous to human life," and "Fraud with food products." This concerns over 21,000 kg of tangerines, which, according to the prosecution, were not disposed of properly after returning from Croatia.

According to the farmer's claims, the tangerines were dumped in the Dimal Municipality landfill, but during the inspection no product residues were found. This quantity of tangerines, with high pesticide content, was sold in the Berat and Saranda regions.

" During the investigations within the framework of criminal proceedings no. 768 based on the report made by the National Food Authority, the General Directorate of Tirana after the rejection in Croatia of 21593 kg of clementine mandarins suspected of containing the pesticide phosmet, it resulted that the product was purchased from farmers in the Berat and Saranda districts. From the analyses, it was found that this quantity of mandarins had residues of the pesticide "Fosmet" above the permitted norm (0.075 mg/kg - olejuar value ≤ 0.01 mg/kg). At a time when this pesticide has been removed from use since 2022 and is not allowed to be used. Consumption of a fruit containing residues of phosmet above the permitted levels can have consequences for human health, especially if exposure is repeated, since phosmet is a toxic chemical.

The investigation revealed that the procedure for returning the unsafe product was carried out without the knowledge of the AKU and the farmer ET said that he had destroyed the product returned by the food business operator in an unidentified place. The farmer himself claimed that he had thrown the goods in the landfill of the Dimal Municipality, where, in the meantime, the inspection showed that there was no product residue. Also, in the statement given to the AKU, according to the minutes of the finding, it appears that he has declared that he has thrown the goods into random canals , "the announcement states./ CNA