The Judicial Police are investigating a robbery that took place at an Euromillions kiosk in Quarteira. During the incident a female staff member was threatened by two men, one of whom was carrying a shotgun. The incident took place on 2nd December at 1900 hrs just before the announcement of the jackpot results.
During the robbery the father of the staff member knocked over the robbers motorcycle, but the they managed to escape with the lottery takings.n
On 5th December at 0140 hrs two men were discovered by a PSP patrol stealing diesel fuel from a bus belonging to the EVA bus company at Lago do Possio de S.Joao Baptista in Lagos.
When the PSP approached one of the men escaped and the other aged 21 years was caught with a drum containing 15 litres of diesel and a hose pipe.
On 3rd December the PSP arrested of two persons for drug trafficking in Olhao. In their possession were 208 doses of cocaine and 71 doses of heroin.
During a search of their homes a total of five knives, a motor car, eight mobile phones, a notebook, a games console, a tablet $218 in cash and a car radio were seized.
On 6th September a man was arrested in Olhao by the PSP after trying to steal a tile cutter from a shop in the town. On fleeing from the shop he was stopped by members of the public and held pending the arrival of the PSP.
Comment
Good work by the citizens involved.
It has been announced that Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall will take over from DCI Andy Redwood into the UK investigation into the disappearance of Madeline McCann, when the latter retires at the end of this month.
DCI Wall has 25 years service in the Metropolitan Police and has spent 8 years as a Detective Chief Inspector. Her current position is Head of murder investigation team in West London which is part of the Metropolitan Polices’s Homicide and Major Crime Command.
She is an experienced homicide investigator and in 2014 has conducted a number of high profile investigations into murders in her area which have included a murder of a grandfather in Notting Hill; a 55 year old woman in Colindale, a 48 year woman in Earls Court and a double murder in Leytonstone.
She is married and has a home in Putney west London.
DCI Redwood has stated “It was a great privilege to be Head of Operation Grange during the last three and a half years and I guarantee I will be leaving the operation in the hands of a very experienced colleague”.
Berlin, 3 December 2014 – Corruption is a problem for all economies, requiring leading financial centres in the EU and US to act together with fast-growing economies to stop the corrupt from getting away with it, anti-corruption group Transparency International said today.
In the 20th edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index, scores for China (with a score of 36 out of 100), Turkey (45) and Angola (19) were among the biggest fallers with a drop of 4 or 5 points, despite average economic growth of more than 4 per cent over the last four years.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). A country or territory’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. This year’s index includes 175 countries and territories.
Portugal ranks 31st with a score of 63, which is a similar score to the last 3 years, but in terms of ranking has slipped from a ranking of 25th in 2001. The latest corruption scandals involving the former prime minister and those involved in the Golden Visas case are probable too recent to have been taken into account in this year’s survey.
“The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain,” said José Ugaz, the chair of Transparency International.
“Corrupt officials smuggle ill-gotten assets into safe havens through offshore companies with absolute impunity,” Ugaz added. “Countries at the bottom need to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favour of their people. Countries at the top of the index should make sure they don’t export corrupt practices to underdeveloped countries.”
More than two thirds of the 175 countries in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean). Denmark comes out on top in 2014 with a score of 92 while North Korea and Somalia share last place, scoring just eight.
The scores of several countries rose or fell by four points or more. The biggest falls were in Turkey (-5), Angola, China, Malawi and Rwanda (all -4). The biggest improvers were Côte d´Ivoire, Egypt, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (+5), Afghanistan, Jordan, Mali and Swaziland (+4).
The countries of the European Union indeed have higher index scores than countries further east. But corruption scandals are not limited to Ukraine and Turkey. This year has been marked by numerous scandals in the heart of “old Europe”: in France, Spain and Italy they included a former president, a current regional president and members of the royal family, not to mention dozens of politicians and influential business people. Read the full rankings here.
Europol and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), together with 25 law enforcement agencies from 19 countries, have seized 292 domain names that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online to unsuspecting consumers. The 292 domain names seized are part of project ‘In Our Sites (IOS) Transatlantic V’. The operation was coordinated by Europol for its partners (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) in Washington, DC, for the United States.
Since August, Europol and the IPR Center (NIPRCC) have received leads from trademark holders regarding the infringing websites, which were then circulated to law enforcement authorities in the participating countries.
The domain names seized are now in the custody of the governments involved in these operations. Visitors typing those domain names into their web browsers will find either a banner that notifies them of the seizure and educates them about the crime of wilful copyright infringement, or the visitors will not be able to access the website anymore. The most popular counterfeit products concerned include the traditional luxury goods but also sportswear, electronics, pharmaceuticals and pirated goods like movies and music.
“The infringements of intellectual property rights is a growing problem in our economies and for millions of producers and consumers. Europol is committed to working with its international partners to crack down on the criminal networks responsible for this illegal activity,” says Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol.
While seizing the websites is only one way of disrupting and hindering the criminals behind the sale of counterfeits on the Internet, law enforcement authorities also now focus increasingly on the ‘follow-the-money’ approach, in line with the EU Action Plan on the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Project IOS is a sustained law enforcement initiative that began to protect consumers by targeting the sale of counterfeit merchandise on the Internet. The 292 domain names seized under Operation IOS V brings the total number of IOS domain names seized to 1829 since the IOS project began in November 2012.
“Working with our international partners on operations like this shows the true global impact of IP crime,” said NIPRCC Acting Director Bruce Foucart. “Counterfeiters take advantage of the holiday season and sell cheap fakes to unsuspecting consumers everywhere. Consumers need to protect themselves, their families, and their personal financial information from the criminal networks operating these bogus sites.”
Counterfeit products being sold online not only rip off the consumer and provide shoddy products, but also put their personal financial information at risk. Consumers are encouraged to report counterfeit products and websites selling them, but also encouraged to raise awareness with others because counterfeiting crimes result in many victims. In addition, the crimes can cause revenue
Resulting from an international investigation by the DCIAP that has taken place over a period of several months, the Judicial Police conducted, with the collaboration of the Spanish authorities, operation “ADIADA”” that has so far resulted in the arrest of 11 suspects and the seizure of about 20 tons of hashish which was being transported inside a Portuguese fishing vessel.
The fishing vessel was in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, and was under surveillance by the Spanish Navy and elements of the Spanish Tax Agency.
Upon being approached the crew on board the vessel ignited a drum of petrol in order to burn and sink the vessel and thus destroy the drugs. As a result of fuel explosion, two of the crew were seriously injured and were evacuated by sea rescue services in Spain. Despite the fire, ten crew members of various nationalities were arrested. Later, the leader of the criminal network was arrested during an operation involving eleven searches Items seized included, a refrigeration ship about 50 meters long, that the criminal organization wanted to use for future drug transport, and two cars.
Members of the Judicial Police participated in the naval operation operation. The investigation is part of an international effort to dismantling organize criminal networks that have been using this modus operandi for the smuggling of hashish on the European continent (the so-called “Eastern Mediterranean route”. During the last year these efforts have led to arrests and seizure of more than 100 tons of drugs, under coordination of the “Analysis Center and Maritime Operations – Narcotics (MAOC-N). This involves help provided by the Portuguese Air Force and Navy.
The detainees have appeared at the relevant Portuguese and Spanish Judicial Authorities for the application of enforcement measures.
On 23rd November in the morning the GNR Almancil arrested a person aged 51 years for pickpocketing in Almancil.
After the suspect was seen to have committed the theft the GNR officers apprehended the culprit whereupon he was immediately arrested. Two mobile phones and several documents belonging to victim were seized. The detainee who was illegally in Portugal and has appeared at the Judicial Court of Loulé
On 24th November the GNR Criminal Investigation unit (NIC) of Tavira arrested in Santa Luzia – Tavira, a man aged 46 years for drug trafficking.
The GNR officers approached the suspect in the street as he appeared to be acting suspiciously. Upon being searched he was found to be in possession of 43 individual doses of heroin.
The detainee was presented at the Judicial Court of Loulé on 25th November.