{"id":315253,"date":"2025-12-14T08:10:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T08:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/315253\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T08:10:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T08:10:25","slug":"man-arrested-as-illegal-bushmeat-including-cane-rat-and-porcupine-seized-by-police-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/315253\/","title":{"rendered":"Man arrested as illegal bushmeat &#8211; including cane rat and porcupine &#8211; seized by police in London"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>       11 Dec 2025, 13:20 Updated: 2d ago         <\/p>\n<p> 11 Dec 2025, 13:20  | Updated: 2d ago <\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Frozen pangolin that was seized by the FSA's National Food Crime Unit and Metropolitan Police.\" class=\"content-image\" data-image-catalogue-id=\"777744\" width=\"660\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/777744\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>    Frozen pangolin that was seized by the FSA&#8217;s National Food Crime Unit and Metropolitan Police.<\/p>\n<p>        Picture:<br \/>\nFSA<\/p>\n<p class=\"standfirst\">A man has been arrested after police seized 38kg of illegal frozen bushmeat including pangolins, cane rats and porcupines, the food safety watchdog said.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Officers from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Metropolitan police found the bushmeat at a site in Deptford, south east London on December 5.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Bushmeat is from wild animals &#8211; often species found in tropical regions &#8211; that have been hunted.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">A 57-year-old man was arrested and released under investigation, the FSA said.  \t<\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Cane rats for sale in C\u00f4te d'Ivoire\" class=\"content-image\" data-image-catalogue-id=\"777753\" width=\"660\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/777753\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>    Cane rats for sale in C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire.<\/p>\n<p>        Picture: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/license\/2170168696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\nGetty<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">The watchdog said the operation targeted illegally imported meat products which posed potential food safety risks to consumers.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Illegally imported meat bypasses safety and hygiene checks required for food sold in the UK and could carry diseases and contaminants that put consumers at risk, it added.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Some species, such as pangolins, are also critically endangered and all commercial trade of them is prohibited internationally.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">The FSA said inquiries were ongoing.  \t<\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Handover Of Protected Animals To Natural Resources Conservation Centre\" class=\"content-image\" data-image-catalogue-id=\"777751\" width=\"660\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/777751\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>    Bushmeat is from wild animals &#8211; often species found in tropical regions &#8211; that have been hunted.<\/p>\n<p>        Picture: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/license\/2171758626\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\nGetty<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Remain vigilant&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Simon Ashwin, senior investigator at the FSA&#8217;s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU), said: &#8220;This operation forms part of the NFCU&#8217;s ongoing work to disrupt the illegal meat trade and prevent unsafe products from reaching the public.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">&#8220;The FSA advises consumers not to buy or eat illegally imported meat, including bushmeat, as it may pose serious health risks.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">&#8220;If you have concerns about products being sold, contact your local authority.  \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">&#8220;We remain vigilant to the threat of illegal meat entering the food chain and will continue to take action to protect the public.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"11 Dec 2025, 13:20 Updated: 2d ago 11 Dec 2025, 13:20 | Updated: 2d ago Frozen pangolin that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-315253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}