The meat was smuggled into the country by a Chinese citizen who owns a storage facility.
9.5 tonnes of pork from China was found in a vegetable storage near Padoa managed by a Chinese citizen. The meat was illegally-imported and hidden under a shipment of vegetables from China, reports Reuters.
Chinese pork imports are banned by almost every country in the world due to the African swine fever (ASF) situation in the country. Italian police seized and destroyed the products found in the storage facility.
In China, the ASF virus is present not only in pig herds but also in processed products. According to Chinese authorities, the virus was found in 5% of the meat samples collected from the slaughterhouses.
