Authorities have arrested at least 66 people in a European food scam which sold horse meat unfit for human consumption.

European Union police co-ordinating organization Europol announced Sunday that eight nations co-operated in the operation. In Spain, 65 people face a series of charges relating to public health, money laundering and animal abuse.

The operation took several months and the chief suspect, a Dutch businessman, was arrested in Belgium in April.

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The case was linked to a 2013 scandal when Irish authorities detected beef burgers containing horse meat and a 2016 case in Spain, where old and other horses unfit for consumption were slaughtered for export.

Authorities in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Britain and Spain co-operated in the operation.