Year: 2014

On 10th November Hugo Goncalves known as “O Solhitario” aged 31 years appeared in court in Albufeira accused of 27 robberies dating from July 2013.

The robberies first took place in Albufeira but also involved others in Portimao. All the victims were women including tourists. Goncalves allegedly approached the women and threatened them with a pistol (which was later found to be a replica). The investigation was initially undertaken by GNR Albufeira but was transferred to the Judicial Police as a firearm was involved.

Another three men have been charged with receiving stolen goods. Goncalves entered a plea of not guilty.

The trial continues.

Europol has reported that on 6 November, law enforcement and judicial agencies around the globe undertook a joint action against dark markets running as hidden services on Tor* network. 16 European countries,** alongside counterparts from the United States, brought down several marketplaces as part of a unified international action from Europol’s operational coordination centre in The Hague.

The action aimed to stop the sale, distribution and promotion of illegal and harmful items, including weapons and drugs, which were being sold on online ‘dark’ marketplaces. Operation Onymous, coordinated by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), the FBI, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Eurojust, resulted in 17 arrests of vendors and administrators running these online marketplaces and more than 410 hidden services being taken down. In addition, bitcoins worth approximately USD 1 million, EUR 180 000 euro in cash, drugs, gold and silver were seized. The dark market Silk Road 2.0 was taken down by the FBI and the U.S. ICE HIS, and the operator was arrested.

The Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT), located at Europol’s headquarters, supported the operation. The J-CAT was created to serve as a platform for targeted operations against global criminal networks and infrastructure, carried out by EC3 and our colleagues in EU Member States and beyond.

“Today we have demonstrated that, together, we are able to efficiently remove vital criminal infrastructures that are supporting serious organised crime. And we are not ‘just’ removing these services from the open Internet; this time we have also hit services on the Darknet using Tor where, for a long time, criminals have considered themselves beyond reach. We can now show that they are neither invisible nor untouchable. The criminals can run but they can’t hide. And our work continues….”, says Troels Oerting, Head of EC3.

“Our efforts have disrupted a website that allows illicit black-market activities to evolve and expand, and provides a safe haven for illegal vices, such as weapons distribution, drug trafficking and murder-for-hire,” says Kumar Kibble, regional attaché for HSI in Germany.  “HSI will continue to work in partnership with Europol and its law enforcement partners around the world to hold criminals who use anonymous Internet software for illegal activities accountable for their actions.”

“Working closely with domestic and international law enforcement, the FBI and our partners have taken action to disrupt several websites dedicated to the buying and selling of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods. Combating cyber criminals remains a top priority for the FBI, and we continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and dismantle illicit networks that pose a threat in cyberspace”, says Robert Anderson, FBI Executive Assistant Director of the of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.

* Tor, an acronym for The Onion Router, is a free network designed to anonymise your real Internet Protocol (IP) address by routing your traffic through many servers of the Tor network. Tor is used by a variety of people for both illicit and licit purposes, a fact that has also been acknowledged in the complaint against Ross William Ulbricht, accused of being the main administrator of the original Silk Road.

** Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

The Judicial Police Officers through the Board of South, and in collaboration with UDYCO Unit (drugs and organized crime) of Huelva, the National Police of Spain, detained five men and seized about 2000 Kgs of hashish and two vehicles.

The investigation between the two law enforcement authorities commenced two months ago. On 8th November a large cement vehicle crossed the International Bridge over the Rio Guardiana heading towards Tavira. It was followed by police to Cumenda near Tavira, where drugs were hidden in a property owned by an absentee foreigner. It is believed that owner may not have been aware of this. At the point where the drugs were being loaded onto the vehicle the police mounted the operation arresting all five persons involved.

The detainees are  aged between 58 and 30 years and include Romanian, Dutch and Spanish nationals.They have appeared in court for an application to be remanded in custody.

A further three suspects of Mor0can nationality have been arrested in Spain.

It is believed that the lorry would have returned to Spain with the drugs, for transportation to northern Europe. The Judicial Police have stated that they expect further arrests in connection with this investigation in order to neutralize the gang completely.

The Judicial Police, through the Board of the South, identified and arrested a man for a crime of theft, which resulted in the death of the victim.

In mid-June, the arrested person entered the backyard of a house located at the Beringelinho, Castro Verde, intending to commit a robbery. At that time, he was surprised by the owner, whereupon he punch and kicked him. After he entered the house and seized money and gold objects.

Following the robbery the culprit fled to another area of the country. The victim, a man of 86 years old died at the end of June as a result of injuries sustained in the assault.

Following the course of investigation the suspect was located in the centre of the country, and was detained on 6^th November.

The accused, aged 33 years, will appear at the appropriate judicial authorities for application to be remanded in custody

A GNR patrol from Almancil arrested during the morning of today, November 7, 2014, a Portuguese citizen aged 22 years old for drug trafficking.

During a patrol to combat crime in the locality Arneiro – in the border area between the municipalities of Loulé and Faro, the GNR located the individual in question who was walking in the street acting suspiciously.

On seeing the GNR officers the individual starting running and headed into an area of dense bush, trying to escape.

He was however caught and during subsequent steps taken, including house searches located nearby, sufficient pollen for 256 individual doses hashish, as well as other objects related to the cut and preparation of drugs plus a number of knives were discovered and seized.

Among objects seized were a grinding mill used for narcotics, a pipe and nine rounds of 5.56mm calibre ammunition.

The Judicial Police, through the Department of Criminal Investigation of Portimão arrested a foreigner for drug trafficking.

During a crime prevention operation to combat drug trafficking carried out in Portimão, several individuals were identified one of them who had in his possession the equivalent of about 50 doses of hashish.

The accused, aged 20 years old, will be present to judicial authorities for remand-reporting conditions.

From November and January 2015, the GNR will be mounting a national operation by patrolling and visiting farms, with the goal of preventing crime in general and, in particular, theft of agricultural products, the theft of copper and other base metals as well as trafficking in human beings. 

It is intended with this operation to conduct patrolling and enforcement actions so that the various agricultural campaigns are conducted in a secure environment, ensuring the protection of persons and property, whilst aiming to identify cases of human trafficking . Actions will include promoting further contact with rural communities, especially farmers, to warn them of prevention and protection against theft, especially theft of non-precious metals, and  the safe use of agricultural vehicles. 

This is undertaken at this time of the year (November-January), as farms carry out campaigns for harvesting, preparation, transport and processing for sale of agricultural products.

 

Europol reported on 3rd November that a joint operation between Spanish and German law enforcement authorities, coordinated by Europol, has resulted in the arrest of 20 individuals and the seizure of over one tonne of hashish, 44 vehicles, 21 properties, a sailing boat and EUR 27 500 in cash.

Spain’s Guardia Civil worked closely with Germany’s Rheinland-Pfalz Police, supported by Europol, to arrest 20 people in Spain and Germany and charge four others as alleged members of one of the most serious criminal drug organisations, made up of Spanish, German, English and Moroccan citizens. Police seized 1.1 tonnes of hashish and other assets worth more than EUR 9 million.

The criminal network was run by a German, who was arrested in his country after escaping from a Spanish prison whilst serving a sentence for drug trafficking offences. This individual was considered to be one of the most active in the transport and distribution of hashish in central Europe, and was under investigation in Denmark, France and Germany. The drug organisation had members in North Africa who were in charge of cultivating cannabis plantations and the whole process of preparing the end product.

After the preparation, labelling and packaging of the drug, according to quality, the criminal network stored the hashish off the Moroccan coast until it was brought to Spain in boats that arrived via marinas on the Costa del Sol and Almeria coastline. The drugs were then deposited in warehouses, hidden in high-end vehicles that were fitted with false bottoms, and then transported to Germany.

Property searches in Spain and Germany resulted in the seizure of hashish, mobile phones, computer equipment, marine GPS and frequency scanners, cars, a sailing boat, a large quantity of documentary evidence and EUR 27 500 in cash.

The criminal network had front companies in Germany and Spain to launder the proceeds of the sale of their drugs. As well as whitewashing the drugs money, these companies were used to acquire vessels to transport the hashish.

As well as coordinating the operation and providing continuous analytical support throughout, Europol provided on-the-spot support on 14 October 2014 with a mobile office, allowing direct access to Europol’s databases for cross-checking, analysing and rapidly exchanging intelligence. Europol experts also extracted data from seized electronic storage devices and mobile phones.

Five men arrested in September 2013 for drug trafficking at an abandoned factory in Mexelhoeira da Carregacao, Lagoa, were found guilty when they appeared before a court in Loule on 29th October 2014.

They were each sentenced to prison from between 3 1/2 to 5 years.

GNR Faro have arrested five men aged between 60 – 70 years responsible for a number of thefts and robberies throughout the country.

Nicknamed the “Beret Gang” because they usually wore berets (boinas), they would enter banks posing as ordinary customers and follow customers who had withdrawn large sums of money. As soon as the money was left unattended for instance in a car, the gang took the opportunity to break in a steal, pulling the caps over part of their faces to avoid being recognized. The gang used top range vehicles to follow victims, including Mercedes and some hire cars.

The gang are believed to be mainly resident in Setabul and were arrested by Faro GNR, who conducted the investigation, in Gondamar. One gang member was arrested in Baixa do Banheira.

The GNR investigation has led officers to believe that the gang could have operated for up to 10 years with proceeds amounting to over €1 million.

It was subsequently reported in the Correio da Manha on 26th October that since the arrest many more victims are being identified.