Illegal pork pursuit: Thai investigators crack down on Makro for shady swine supplies

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) raided Makro, a popular cash and carry store warehouse in Thailand after discovering the store ordered illegal pork products from a company previously indicted for illicit imports.

DSI director, Suriya Singhakamon, said officers conducted a raid on Wealthy & Healthy Foods, which illegally imported pork into Thailand, and discovered that the company supplied some frozen pork and pork livers to a cash and carry store called Siam Makro.

Earlier this year, Siam Makro announced that it had changed its name to CP Axtra after Charoen Pokphand Group Company, or CP, became the largest shareholder in the company with 34.97%.

Following the discovery, Suriya and his team conducted a further investigation at Makro’s head office in Bangkok’s Phattana Karn district yesterday, November 27. The authorities did not allow reporters or media representatives to observe the operation.

After two hours of investigation, DSI director Suriya reported that Makro, and Wealthy & Healthy Foods, had been business partners for a long time and that their trade was worth more than 390 million baht.

However, officials had not yet concluded whether Makro was guilty of selling illegal pork. The DSI had to wait for documents from Makro, and the investigation would take several months.

Makro defends clean business

Makro representative Siriporn Datesingha clarified that Makro only bought pork from local farms. Each of its business partners declared a clear source of pork and submitted their certificates to the company before trading.

However, Siriporn admitted that Makro sometimes bought pork offal from importers when there was high demand from customers. Siriporn stressed that these importers also had to declare the origin of the products to Makro.

Siriporn also admitted to buying pork from Wealthy & Healthy Foods in the past because it trusted the company as a long-time business partner. In addition to pork, Makro also bought frozen fish and seafood from the company.

However, Makro recently stopped doing business with Wealthy & Healthy Foods because the products did not meet a quality standard. Makro stopped buying pork in the middle of last year and pork offal at the beginning of this year.

The Department of Livestock Development, the Department of Internal Trade and the Department of Public Health carried out tests on Makro’s products on November 15 and 21 and found that all the pork products met the quality standards.