Year: 2016

The search to find the Englishman who on Saturday fell from a tourist boat to the river Tagus in Algés area was resumed at 08h30 on 19^th July, said a source from the Maritime Authority of Lisbon. The same source told Lusa News agency that the searches will be conducted by two speedboats at 08h30 and will continue until sunset if necessary.  According to the Commander and Captain of the Port of Lisbon, Malachi Domingues, searches are being carried out between the 25th of April Bridge and Lighthouse Bugio, which marks the separation between the river and the ocean.

The Public Security Police (PSP), according to the concepts defined by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), is to implement at national level its Quality Management System.

This system aims to continually improve organizational performance, based on continuous improvement values, common assessment framework and eight fundamental concepts of excellence, namely: results orientation, focus on citizen / customer, leadership and constancy of purpose, management by processes and facts, development and involvement of people, learning, innovation and continuous improvement, partnership development and social responsibility.

The common assessment framework was designed to help public sector organizations of the European countries to use quality management techniques, based on the concept of Total Quality Management, towards excellence.

Being a gradual and continuous process already started initially by some commands and units of the PSP (namely Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Faro), it will continue with its implementation this year and 2017. This implementation is not intended only for commands the PSP, but also for various departments, offices and services, coordinated by the National Directorate PSP – Studies and Planning Office.

The PSP is firmly committed to this process and investment in this management system the quality of services.

The following information has been passed to Safe Communities Portugal concerning the forthcoming EU Referendum

PORTUGAL – KEY MESSAGES ABOUT OVERSEAS VOTERS REGISTRATION 

• If you are a British national, and you have been registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years, you are eligible to vote in UK Parliamentary General Elections, UK-wide referendums, and European Parliamentary elections
• one of the most historic decisions the UK will make for a generation is on the horizon: on 23 June there will be a referendum to decide whether the UK should remain in or leave the European Union
• The Electoral Commission is keen for you to register as early as possible to ensure you can have your say: the process for registration as an overseas elector is easy; it takes just five minutes online – link here 

• You will need to know your National Insurance number, and have your passport to hand, if you have one. If you don’t have a National Insurance number you can still register, but you may have to supply more information to show who you are
• Once registered, you can choose how you wish to vote: either by post, by proxy (where you appoint someone you trust in the UK to vote on your behalf) or in person at your polling station if you happen to be back in the UK on polling day
• If you do opt for a postal vote, make sure you allow enough time for your ballot paper to be posted out from the UK to here, and then completed and posted back to the UK again;  the Electoral Commission is urging those overseas to register for a postal vote by 16 May
• Ballot papers will be posted out between 23 and 27 May; your ballot paper must arrive back in the UK by 10pm on 23 June 2016 to be counted in the EU referendum
• if you were registered to vote for the 2015 General Election, you will have to renew your registration or register again

For proxy voting:

For overseas voters registered in Great Britain, once you have completed and signed your proxy voting application form, send it to your local electoral registration office to arrive by 5pm by 5pm on 15 June 2016 

For overseas voters registered in Northern Ireland, you should return your proxy voting application to your local Area Electoral Office by 5pm on 3 June 2016

Useful link: http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/overseas-voters

The Lisbon Metropolitan Command PSP announced Wednesday that they have dismantled a drug trafficking network in the country’s central region, after having arrested 10 people in the municipalities of Lourinhã and Caldas da Rainha. During the operation, over 14,000 individual doses of cocaine, 6,700 euros in cash, 24 mobile phones, two cars, two computers, a precision scale and a firearm were seized.
The arrests were the result a police investigation that started several months ago, culminating in the dismantling of a narcotic drug trafficking network that provided the central zone of the Portuguese, “said the PSP in a statement.

During the investigation, the police were able to determine that two of the 10 detainees were responsible for drug transportation, by ingesting it in their bodies thus ensuring that reached the destination.

The 10 detainees, seven men and three women, are aged between 19 and 58 years. Five of them are awaiting trial in custody, three are required to make periodic reports to the police and two are awaiting trial under house arrest.

After the highest bidder on eBay offered Jordan Allison £600 for his mobile phone he dutifully packaged it up and sent it off by registered post. However, although Royal Mail’s website showed it had been signed for, the buyer claimed it hadn’t arrived. When Allison sent proof of delivery the buyer said he had received the parcel after all, but instead of a phone it contained an unlikely cargo: beetroot.

“I had proof – the weight of package and photos – that I hadn’t sent beetroot,” says Allison, who is from Irvine in Ayrshire. “But the buyer opened a case against me on eBay. I called eBay and asked if I needed to do anything. It said I would be contacted. A month later I received an email, not from eBay but from PayPal, to say £600 had been removed from my account.”

What had happened is an experience grimly familiar to many eBay sellers. The company had found in the buyer’s favour without asking for any evidence, according to Allison. Not only did the buyer receive a full refund, but the seller has been left with no phone. After The Observer intervened, eBay agreed to refund Allison, although it insists there was no evidence of fraud.

Critics claim the auction website’s measures to protect buyers from dodgy transactions have left sellers at the mercy of fraudsters who can manipulate the system to effectively steal goods.

Ebay claims its 1,500-strong resolution team has tools to monitor and flag up suspect behaviour. However, in Barr’s case it was only when the Observer intervened that eBay revisited the case and discovered the buyer had a history of manipulating the system. It has now refunded Barr.

It says the complaint was originally handled “in line with eBay Money Back Guarantee guidelines” which advise buyers to provide a tracking number to show that a disputed item has been returned. It’s a system open to fraud since the tracking number doesn’t show what was in the parcel and eBay doesn’t ask.

The Judicial Police, through the National Anti-Corruption Unit – UNCC, in collaboration with several other units, including the National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking – UNCTE in connection with an investigation by the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action – DCIAP, have undertaken a major operation, resulting in the arrest of 15 persons.

Those arrested are aged from 39 to 61 years of age and are being held in connection with crimes of bribery and accepting bribes for tort, money laundering and trafficking in drugs.

The operation which was reported on 5^th April, mobilized nearly 250 members of the Judicial Police, as well as judges and prosecutors, and involved ​​about a 120 searches, throughout the country

The detainees will be present the first judicial questioning for the application of appropriate enforcement measures. The investigation is continuing

The Judicial Police, through the Board of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, have arrested of a man aged 45 years for committing a robbery and kidnapping.

The investigation found that during the night in early October last year, the victim, a man aged 24 years, was approached by the suspect when he parked his car in the Lisbon area and forced by threat with a firearm, to move to the back seat of the car.  He was then taken to several ATMs and forced to withdraw money over a period of two hours. The suspect stole the car and other property of the victim.

At the end of the same month, the suspect approached another victim, a managed 60 years old who had just closed his establishment and was preparing to get into the car. Under the threat of a firearm the suspect stole money he had in his possession and the keys of his car.

The detainee will appear for first judicial interrogation, which will be subject to appropriate enforcement measures. The judicial Police is continuing their investigation to ascertain the possibility that the suspect is involved in other criminal cases like.

The Judicial Police, through the Department of Criminal Investigation of Setubal, have completed an investigation involving transnational transactions, which started in August 2015 concerning computer fraud crimes and counterfeit securities.

Following  “Operation Lightning ” and in collaboration with SIBS / PAYWATCH, the operation resulted in the arrest of three men, aged between 37 and 41 years old, who are now in custody.

The “modus operandi” of detainees consisted of placing in a cash machine (ATM) in Sesimbra, a device that allowed them to copy security features of 116 bank cards, whose counterfeited copies were then used in a total of 320 transactions value amounting to € 43,570.00.

They successfully conducted 153 such transactions and appropriating illicitly € 20,440.00 in Évora, Montemor-o-Novo, Vendas Novas, Sines, Santiago Cacém, Ferreira do Alentejo and Beja. At the time of their arrest, the defendants were preparing to do the same in another ATM in Montijo.

The investigation has resulted in the dismantling of a transnational network undertaking this crime. The investigation was based on dozens of inquiries, and examination of more than a hundred people, the seizure of various computer equipment and tools, vehicles, hundreds of cards, mobiles, supporting transfers made ​​through “Western Union” and the evidence of similar practices abroad.

On 1^st April the GNR SEPNA of the Territorial Command of Setúbal, supported by GNR Grândola, seized 55 dogs as part of an investigation into the neglect and abuse of animals by DIAP Setúbal.

Two owners of the dogs were made defendants. After screening performed by the vet of the municipality of Grândola, five of the animals were found to need  immediate attention as they had signs of having been subjected to ill treatment. The dogs seized were the Alano races, Beagles, Griffons, PitBull Terriers, Podengos, Sleuth Spanish and Fila de São Miguel.