400 kg of 'double dead' meat seized in Bulacan

The Bulacan police seized during a checkpoint inspection at Sta. Maria town some 400 kilograms of contaminated "double dead" meat from pigs that had died before being slaughtered. Radio station dzBB reported that the driver of the jeepney transporting the meat was interrogated, but kept mum on the vehicle owner and the dealer of the confiscated meat. Cases of hog cholera were recently recorded in 11 of the Bulacan's 22 towns. QTV television's Balitanghali reported that the suspect pork lacked government meat inspection marks. It also quoted the driver as saying that the meat was meant for sale in Metro Manila. Law enforcers discovered the meat concealed in spaces beneath the vehicle's seats, the Bulacan police said. Local government and police officials torched the seized meat at a dump site in Sta. Maria to make sure that the pork would not be consumed by humans. Vendors of "double dead" meat face up to a year in prison and P10,000 in fines. Separate operations in Pasay City and Quezon City recently led to the confiscation of "double dead" meat weighing close to six tons. - GMANews.TV