The tuna processing plant in Guanta, Venezuela, owned by the Spanish tuna canning Group Calvo, suffered about Eur 500,000 in damages caused by armed gang attacks last Tuesday. Because of these damages the company will consequently shut down productivity in the factory, which employs more than 300 people and processes up to 80 tons of tuna daily, up until last week’s disruption.
According to company directors, the attack took place between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, when six armed men broke into the plant. The attackers burned down control commands for the tuna cookers, one vessel, and an electrical plant which disabled the electrical supply. They destroyed equipment at the offices and several computers were stolen. The gunmen had seized the security guards of the plant, however no victims were registered.
According to information released by the company’s sources to the Spanish press, Calvo guarantees its international production and shipments will not be affected by the situation. The company has been operating since 2001, after more than a USD 38 million investment in the country and guarantees supplies thanks to the several plants and 11 vessels it owns.
Legal counsel for the factory, José MarÃa Iglesias, said that the criminal’s acts were “targeted, and destroyed equipment which is fundamental for the plant’s operations, now out of service.†In fact, due to the lack of electrical power, some 20 tons of processed product was at risk of being lost.
The attorney explained to the press that the plant’s processed tuna was later sent to Carballo in Galicia where it was canned for later distribution.
Now, while the State Security Police (DISIP) continues its investigations into apprehending the suspects for processing, sources from Spain’s embassy in Venezuela told the Faro de Vigo that a well-known, “strong opposition†to the Calvo Group from the local tuna industry is suspected to have sought to intimidate the Spanish business, forcing them to abandon operations in the country.
Despite this, Iglesias confirmed that it is not plausible that the break-in and wreckage was caused by “vengeful acts on the part of the (company’s) workers.â€
There is no commercial activity in the Venezuelan plant, which is limited to processing the tuna to precooked loins, which are frozen and transported to the Group’s main cannery in Carballo, La Coruna, Spain, where the loins will be canned. All indications point to the recently inaugurated processing plant in El Salvador in Central America as the plant, which will assume the volume of production for the destroyed Venezuelan plant. Therefore La Coruna will continue receiving raw material from El Salvador.
The plant in El Salvador, inaugurated in September of the last year, works with a similar system to the one of Venezuela. However, as of the next month of September, El Salvador will be able to process the full production scheme all the way up to the tuna canning.
The Calvo management team in Venezuela is evaluating damages and prefers to not go into any hypothesis but prefers to wait for the results of the police investigation before coming to any conclusions about the attacks.
The Galician canning group owns the leading “Calvo†brand in Spain and the second main brand “Nostromo†in the Italian market. The company invoiced Eur 257 million last year.