Limassol butcher had fake stamps on sold meat

A 51-year-old butcher from Limassol was remanded for two days on Wednesday for allegedly selling meat from animals that were not slaughtered in state approved premises.

An arrest warrant was issued against the man on Tuesday after officials of the vet services found during an inspection on Monday three slaughtered kids, weighing 15 to 20 kilos each, in his butchery’s meat refrigerator with what appeared to be fake stamps.

According to the head of the Limassol CID, Ioannis Soteriades, the carcasses were stamped with non-approved stamps that are believed to be fake. He added that the stamps in question were not located.

During the check, officials reportedly found manure on the carcasses, which was another indication the animals were nor slaughtered in an abattoir, as in state approved premises, the carcasses are cleaned before they are sent to the market.

The 51-year-old claims he got the carcasses from another person he did not name, Soteriades said, but that there are also suspicions that the animals came from a farm the suspect owns in the Limassol district.

“The three carcasses were confiscated and will be destroyed. Police continue investigations in close cooperation with the vet services,” Soteriades said. He added that this is a very serious incident as it deals with public health.

Soteriades said that the vet services, in cooperation with the police will increase checks in lieu of the Christmas season.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, authorities did not rule out the possibility of non-approved slaughtered meat to have already been purchased by consumers from the 51-year-old’s business.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.