Did cops in Belgium raid the house of 54-year-old morgue employee Emma Marie in Antwerp and did they find over 3000 embalmed human penises? No, that's not true: a French language "satire" website copied and translated an article from a Canadian website specializing in made up stories about bizarre crimes and weird sex acts.
The French language version appeared in an article published on February 5, 2019 titled "Belgique: la police saisit 3 000 pénis lors d'une perquisition au domicile d'une employé de la morgue" (archived here) which opened:
Des agents de la police Belge ont fait une découverte étonnante ce matin alors qu'ils exécutaient un mandat de perquisition chez un médecin-légiste d'Antwerp : 3 178 pén*s humains embaumés.
Le police a présumé que Emma Marie, une employé de la morgue, âgé de 54 ans, aurait été impliqué dans un réseau de trafic d'organes. Enquêtant sur plusieurs rapports faisant état d'organes et de parties de corps manquants, des dizaines d'agents ont effectué une descente dans sa résidence, dans l'espoir de trouver des preuves de son implication dans les crimes.
Translation:
Officers of the Belgian police force made a stunning discovery this morning when they executed a search warrant at a medical examiner in Antwerp: 3 187 embalmed human pen*ses.
The police suspects Emma Marie, an employee of the morgue, aged 54, is implicated in an organ traficking network. Investigating several reports about missing organs and body parts, doznes of police officers raided her house, hoping to find evidence of her connection to the crimes.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Belgique: la police saisit 3 000 pénis lors d'une perquisition au domicile d'une employé de la morgue
Des agents de la police Belge ont fait une découverte étonnante ce matin alors qu'ils exécutaient un mandat de perquisition chez un médecin-légiste d'Antwerp : 3 178 pén*s humains embaumés. Le police a présumé que Emma
But the story is an almost word for word translated copy of an older hoax with some details like names and locations altered:
Fake News: FBI Did NOT Seize Over 3,000 Penises During Raid At Morgue Employee Home | Lead Stories
Hoax Alert An article appeared on fake news website World News Daily report which claimed in the title that the "FBI seizes over 3,000 penises during raid at morgue employee's home". The story opened: FBI agents made an astonishing discovery this morning while executing a search warrant at the residence of a Houston mortician: 3,178 embalmed human penises.
The photo used with the story does show real Belgian police officers but it was taken in Brussels in 2016:
Reuters Pictures - EUROPE-ATTACKS/BELGIUM
EUROPE-ATTACKS/BELGIUM - RTSIBP9 Belgian police officers patrol at the Midi Fair, one of the oldest summer events in Brussels, Belgium Belgian police officers patrol at the Midi Fair, one of the oldest summer events in Brussels, Belgium, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Vidal
We wrote about 24jours.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
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The site also carries a satiredisclaimer hidden deep down on the page with its terms of use:
24Jours.com assume toute la responsabilité de la nature satirique de certains de ses articles et de la nature fictive de certains contenus. Tous les personnages apparaissant dans certains articles de ce site Web - même ceux basés sur de vraies personnes - sont entièrement fictifs et toute ressemblance entre eux et toute personne, vivante, morte ou mort-vivante, est purement un miracle.
