Dozens of tons of buffalo meat "magically" transformed into Wagyu beef, sold for 5 times the price difference

(Dan Tri) - Dozens of tons of cheap buffalo meat labeled as beef have been smuggled into many major cities across the country such as Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City over the past year.

Information from the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) said that the Hanoi Market Management Department has just coordinated with the police force to suddenly inspect the factory of Hida Food Joint Stock Company (Hoai Duc commune, Hanoi).

Here, the authorities caught employees injecting by-products into meat to create fat marbling, "transforming" buffalo meat into Hidasan-branded beef.

Initial investigation results by authorities determined that taking advantage of the psychology of preferring high-quality marbled beef, especially Japanese-style Wagyu, the subjects colluded to produce counterfeit goods.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao - General Director of Hida Company - bought poor quality buffalo meat imported from India for about 120,000 VND/kg. Then, the meat was injected with by-products to create fat marbling, packaged and labeled as beef. These products were sold on the market for 400,000-600,000 VND/kg, many times higher than the original price.

Violations were seized by authorities (Photo: DMS).

According to preliminary verification, from May 2024 to now, the subjects have colluded to produce and successfully consumed about 14 tons of buffalo meat disguised as beef. This large quantity of fake meat has been smuggled to many major cities and provinces across the country, including: Hanoi , Da Nang, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.

During the search of production sites and warehouses, the authorities seized 65 tons of meat (including fake buffalo meat and beef) and all the processing machinery. Notably, the investigation agency also seized 17 tons of refined powder used to inject into buffalo meat to create fat marbling, deceiving consumers.

On October 6, the Hanoi City Police Investigation Agency issued a decision to prosecute a criminal case and prosecute the accused, and issue a detention order against 4 subjects for the crime of "Producing and trading in counterfeit food and foodstuffs" under Article 193 of the Penal Code.

Authorities said that the results of the examination at the National Testing Institute showed that 24/29 samples of seized beef had buffalo DNA. Currently, the investigation agency is continuing to examine 17 tons of refined powder to determine whether it contains toxins harmful to health or not.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/hang-chuc-tan-thit-trau-phu-phep-thanh-bo-wagyu-ban-chenh-gap-5-lan-20251015013739235.htm