Month: January 2014

On 29^th January in the evening GNR Portimão arrested two Portuguese citizens aged 17 and 19 years for the theft of items from residence.

The arrests took place in Mexilhoeira Grande, when those arrested were caught in the act of stealing from a second property having already removed property from another.  The culprits broke into the properties by scaling walls and breaking windows. The GNR discovered a car nearby with several stolen items inside including a ceramic hob oven, an extractor hood, an electric oven and various kitchen objects in zinc and copper, as well as objects used carryout the theft.

On 22nd January 2014 a 47 year old woman who had been under investigation for 5 months in connection with drug dealing and is suspected of other serious crimes including possession of weapons, was arrested by the GNR Loulé at her home in Paragil, near Boliqueime.

The GNR armed with a search warrant entered her home and together with her common in law husband were caught in the act of selling drugs to five individuals – all detained.

In addition to the arrests 174 individual doses of heroin, 4830 individual doses of cannabis, as well as various equipment associated with drug dealing was also seized.

On 21^st January 2014 following a joint investigation between the PSP Olhão and GNR Faro police and GNR executed five search warrants in house searches, three search warrants in food and beverage, one at a bakery and three in vehicle in an operation targeting a gang responsible for over fifty burglaries involving tobacco machines. Four men aged between 29 and 42 were arrested.

The burglaries took place over a wide area in the eastern Algarve, mainly concentrated in the municipalities of Faro, Olhão, Tavira, Loulé and Silves. The operation took place when the gang were in the act of stealing from a restaurant in Almancil.

Contributors to this operation included a team of the detachment Coastal Monitoring the GNR in Olhão and two teams of ASAE who conducted the inspection of the commercial establishments, closing two of them for lack of minimum conditions of hygiene and food.

In addition to the recovery of items stolen that night, also seized were: thousands of packs of different brands of tobacco, plus tobacco machines, plasmas, laptops, bottled drinks (whisky, liqueurs and port wine), over a hundred gas cylinders, grinders, consoles, stereos, DVD players, various tools and appliances.

 

 

On 20^th January 2014, GNR Vila do Bispo arrested a man and a woman suspected of the theft of aluminium. The arrests took place as the culprits were found carrying doors, shutters and aluminium frames, worth about €30,000 to a vehicle parked near the residence where the items had been stolen from.

The property was used as a holiday home and the GNR were alerted by a member of the public.

On 17th January 2014 the PSP Police Portimão arrested a 20-year-old native of Portimão, wanted in connection with several thefts inside residences and from cars. After executing search warrants issued by the judicial authorities, about 75 doses of hashish and several pieces of gold and silver jewellery were seized.

Investigations are continuing to establish the connection, if any, between the arrested person and other thefts which have taken place in the area.

On 15^th January 2014 in the late afternoon a collision occoured between a passenger car and a tricycle on National Highway 120 in the area of Moinho do Légua near Aljezur (western Algarve) resulting in the death of the driver of the tricycle aged 80 years. The driver of the vehicle immediately fled the scene of the accident and steps were undertaken in Aljezur municipality and neighboring municipalities in order to locate the driver and vehicle concerned. 

On 16^th January GNR Portimão in collaboration with the Investigation of Crimes Traffic Accidents Unit (NICAV) GNR Faro, located the vehicle inside a garage in Portimão, where it had been taken by the owner in order to be repaired due to damage sustained during the collision.

When confronted by the GNR the owner aged 47 years and previously a resident of Aljezur admitted his involvement in the accident. Investigations are continuing.

On 11^th January the Judicial Police, through the Department of Criminal Investigation of Portimão, arrested a man caught in the act of drug trafficking.

The arrest took place during house searches undertaken in the context of an investigation for the crime of robbery with a firearm. The detainee is aged 28 years and appeared in court for an application to be placed under remand pending trial.

On 13th January 2014,  PSP Vila Real de St. António, arrested two foreign nationals, both aged 37, in a shop in Vila Real de Santo António, for possession and attempting to pay for items using €50 counterfeit bank notes. The notes were seized by the PSP at the time of the arrests.

On 13th January at around 2320 hrs PSP Tavira detained a Portuguese citizen, aged 53 for possession of a prohibited weapon. Also seized were 6 rounds of 6.35 ammunition together with a knife with 8cm blade all found inside a vehicle in which the man was travelling. The detention of the person was made following a complaint of domestic violence where the suspect threatened to kill the family.

 

On 9th January 2014 a British National aged 47 years, wanted in Spain for hostage taking, extortion and robbery was arrested by SEF upon arrival at Faro Airport from England. He had previously been convicted and sentenced to 19 years imprisonment.