Italian police arrested seven people and raided more than a dozen garages and warehouses in the major overnight operation last week, CNN reports.

Some 42 tonnes of “extra virgin olive oil” packaged for distribution was seized, as well as 71 tonnes of an “oily substance” and 623 litres of chlorophyll.

The authorities in the southern Italian region of Apulia also found 1,145 customs excise duty stamps which are being examined for evidence of forgery.

The seven suspects are facing charges of criminal conspiracy, adulteration of food substances intended for marketing, fraud in public military supplies and adulteration of food for export.