172 tonnes of bad dates seized in Dhaid

The Municipality of Dhaid identified a factory packaging dates and an accommodation for labourers, which were not licensed by official bodies, at a farm on the Dhaid-Mulaiha Road. The municipality seized 172 tonnes of bad dates in the factory and nabbed 12 illegal Asians running it. According to the concerned department at the municipality, the factory supplied the market with dates after repackaging them according to the demand. Director of the municipality Ali Musbah Al Teniji said that a team from the public health department and the security section at the municipality seized large amounts of bad dates in coordination with the police station of Dhaid atthis factory. It was found that the dates, which had been imported from a neighbouring country, were unfit for human consumption, he added. The municipality learnt that the suspects used the factory to re-sort the dates and package it in bags and boxes, on which they put a new expiry date before distributing it to other factories, Al Teniji said. He added that during the campaign, they found an accommodation for the people working at the mentioned farm. The team seized a machine used for thermal packaging, a scale, 500 packaged boxes of dates that were ready for sale weighing 10 kg each. They also seized 1,650 sacks of imported dates weighing 30 kg each, which totally equalled 50 tonnes, in addition to 1,120 sacks weighing 25 kg each or 28 tonnes totally, he added. Labels with fake expiry dates and 2,500 empty boxes were also seized.