A woman is investigated in Spain for poisoning different people in the past five years.
Victims attended the same bar in Zaidín, Huesca, and were randomly chosen, according to researchers.
Guardia Civil said that the woman is the alleged perpetrator of a crime against public health for the intentional poisoning of eight people between 2020 and 2025.
Operation Toxdin started in January 2024 when three people reported that they were the victim of poisoning in the establishment.
Researchers discovered that in 2020 there was a report of poisoning for the first time, the results of which were positive for benzodiazepine. That the person reportedly had the substance unconsciously given while drinking coffee.
Officials discovered that the poisoned had all visited the same establishment and had positive results in their blood tests. One person was involved in a traffic accident because of the effects caused by taking the medicine.
The person investigated took benzodiazepine medication on prescription and seems to have selected the victims randomly.
The suspect has been suspended, among other things, to run a hospitality institution.
Wine fraud
Earlier this year, the Guardia Civil helped a presumably criminal network that is active between Spain, Vietnam and China who focus on the forged wines.
Europol, Interpol and Vietnamese police authorities were also part of Operation Epígrafe.
Seven people who live in Valencia and Álava were examined for offenses such as membership of a criminal organization, document falsification and fraud. The network was involved in the illegal trade of products that are protected by a seal that is supposed to guarantee international standards for authenticity and excellence.
The warning came from a Spanish burger on holiday in Vietnam in March 2023, when he discovered a bottle of wine with the DENOMINACIón de Origena Calificada Rioja label in a store. The bottle had a similar design as a distributed by a winery in La Rioja Alta.
He suspected the authenticity and bought it and took the bottle for analysis in Spain. Results confirmed that the wine, cork, packaging and labeling did not meet the standards of the Denominación the Origene Calificada Rioja.
An analysis of the content of the bottle identified three companies involved in wine export to Asia. Europol and Interpol officers, with the help of the Vietnamese law authorities, more intensive the efforts to tackle forged Rioja wine.
The research discovered that these three companies had set up a network to export thousands of liters of wine from different communities, but never from La Rioja. Once in Vietnam, the content was extracted, bottled, labeled and distributed as if they were Rioja.
A total of 17 brands were identified in Vietnam on the market under false names: Beronica, LuxiumWine, 1910, 1/One, El Agar, Rozita, Marina, 1920, Ebro River, Fles 1965, Vinaria de Luxium Discovery, Cañas, Mauricio, Pineaver, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Mauricio, and Miodavera, and Miodavera, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Mioda, and Moco.
Civil servants discovered another bottle with the Rioja Wine label in China. An analysis confirmed that the content was Rioja wine, but the for labeling did not meet the set standards. However, the bottle had attached an original back label.
Various documents are analyzed to quantify the amount of wine that is traded illegally and the financial gain by those who are being investigated.
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