Cagliari, 120 tons of "Moroccan" pellets seized: full of ashes, but passed off as high quality
The discovery of the Guardia di Finanza during an inspection in collaboration with the Customs Agency. The cargo was stowed in 5 containers, intended for sale throughout Sardinia
The cargo seized at the canal port (Photo Guardia di Finanza)
The Guardia di Finanza of Cagliari has seized 120 tons of low quality pellets, ready to be sold throughout Sardinia as a high quality product.
The discovery was made by the soldiers of the 1st Metropolitan Operations Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Cagliari, during a check together with the officials of the Customs Office at the Porto Canale .
The huge load was stowed in 5 containers from Morocco, imported by an Italian company based in the north-east of the peninsula.
During the investigations, the investigators had a sample of the cargo analyzed at the chemical laboratories of the Customs and Monopolies Agency and, as mentioned, were able to ascertain that the goods did not have the characteristics they should have.
«When the pellet has an ash percentage below 0.8%, it is to be considered of "EN-plus A1" quality, while, once the 1.2% threshold is exceeded, it falls into the "Category
A2”; when, on the other hand, the quantity is greater than 2%, the fuel is indexed as "Category B"», explain the investigators. Adding: «In the present case, while the presence of ash percentage lower than or equal to 0.8% was reported on the product label, the result of the sampling showed a percentage higher than 2.6% . The relevant transport document bore the indication "Pellet EN-plus A2", a circumstance which would therefore have allowed a deceptively better product to be placed on the market in terms of quality compared to its real chemical composition. Furthermore, the specific presence of a particular type of ash could have led to potential damage to the heating systems, reducing their energy power », conclude the investigators.
In the light of what was discovered, the Fiamme Gialle and the officials of the Customs Agency triggered the seizure of the entire shipment.
The legal representative of the importing company was instead reported on the loose to the Judicial Authority of Cagliari with the accusation of having introduced into the State an industrial product bearing false signs, designed to mislead the buyer as to the quality of the fuel.
(Unioneonline/lf)
![L'aiuola di via Dante coperta di rifiuti](https://immagini.unionesarda.it/version/c:MzUwODJiZWYtYTliOC00:ZjViYWJiYWUtODNlMi00/image.webp?f=3%3A2&q=0.75&w=3840 "Cagliari, waste on the downy "carpet" of the flowerbeds in Via Dante")
