An organised crime group that was selling horse meat that was unfit for human consumption has been broken up by Spanish police.
66 people have been arrested in the operation, which was carried out in coordination with authorities in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
65 people arrested in Spain have been charged with crimes including animal abuse, document forgery, perverting the course of justice, crimes against public health, money laundering and being part of a criminal organisation.
Bank accounts, properties and luxury cars were seized as part of the investigation.
The probe stems out of the Irish horse meat scandal from 2013, when it was found that frozen burgers supplied to several supermarkets, including major retailer Tesco, contained horse DNA.
A Dutch businessman was identified as being part of the Irish scandal, but his whereabouts were unknown at the time.
The Spanish investigation was launched last year after unusual behaviour was detected in the horse meat market.
It found that horses that were in bad shape, too old or simply labelled as "not suitable for consumption" were being slaughtered in two different slaughterhouses.
The animals came from Portugal and several places in northern Spain, their meat was processed in a specific facility and from there sent to Belgium, which is one of the biggest horse meat exporters in the European Union.
The criminal organisation forged the animals' identification by modifying theirs microchips and documentation.
The Dutch man connected to the Irish case was located in Alicante during the Spanish investigation, where he was leading the crime group.
Investigators said the Spanish element of the organisation was a smaller part of a European structure controlled by this Dutch man.
He was subsequently arrested in Belgium.
Samples of horse meat taken during the investigation concluded that the horse meat was destined for markets outside of Spain.
