The police came across 10,700 serrano hams in a dubious state which had been frozen and stored in industrial, cold-storage units in Fuente Vaqueros.

The hams, together with other cold meats in a similar bad conditions, should have been destroyed and after alerting the provincial health inspectors, the order was given for their immediate destruction.

It was on the 26th of June that a Guardia Civil patrol in Pinos Puente stopped and inspected a refrigerated lorry carrying 25 pallets of jamones ibéricos, some of which showed signs of putrefaction.

The lorry had been on its way to an industrial warehouse in Fuentes Vaqueros, the driver explained. Consequently, the Guardia Civil also carried out an inspection there, where they found two cold-storage rooms filled with thousands of hams in a similar state – many had a use-by date of 2015.

Some of the pieces had no labels or any information concerning their origin or age. Others that did have labels had had their information altered.

Investigations continue to determine the origin of the defective meats and who were the people involved in their sale.

(News: Fuente Vaquero, Vega, Granada, Andalucia)