Month: February 2017

One of the Chilean prisoners who fled the Caxias prison near Lisbon and were captured in Madrid was released because the Spanish authorities did not receive the European arrest warrant in time. The other Chilean was not only released by the Spanish police, because, after being identified, the authorities realised that he was wanted in Spain for crimes committed in this country.

The two 29-year-old and 30-year-old Chilean inmates who escaped from Caxias prison on 18^th February were detained at Madrid airport on the same day with fake passports.

A source linked to the case explained to Lusa that a delay in the sending and reception in Spain of the European arrest warrant (MDE) allowed one of the escaped Chileans to be released, a fact to which also contributes no vacancy in the Spanish detention center.

The same source admitted that there was a “delay” in sending the MDE, because otherwise the two Chileans were immediately detained. It remained to explain why one of the Chileans, despite presenting a false passport, was eventually released for lack of space in the local detention center.

The ministers of Internal Affairs and Justice confirmed Monday the arrest in Madrid of one of three prisoners evicted from the prison in Caxias, adding that the detainee, a Chilean national, “is in the custody of the Spanish authorities.”

“As soon as the three detainees were identified, the Portuguese authorities exchanged the necessary information not only with each other, but also within the framework of international police cooperation mechanisms, and actions were still ongoing in judicial cooperation International level, “the statement said.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed to Diario de Noticais on 19^th feb that two arrest warrants were issued and referred any further doubts to the statement from the Ministries of Internal Administration and Justice.

The Attorney General’s Office, in turn, told the DN that “all the procedures provided by law, including the issuance of the respective arrest warrants, have been followed.”

The two Chileans fled early on 18^th Feb in the morning from the cell where they were detained, along with a Luso-Israeli prisoner. The three men, awaiting trial in pre-trial detention, fled after having strapped the bars of the cell with metal wire and cut the fence of the prison. Source Diario de Noticais

The genetic DNA database was created seven years ago. If all defendants sentenced to more than three years in prison were on the platform, they would already have 42,000 profile samples. But there are only 6000 according to  Diario de Noticais.

The DNA database, created in 2010 to help investigate unresolved crimes, currently has 8398 samples and of those just over 6000 are of convicted, advances today’s edition of the newspaper Público. The new president of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Francisco Côrte Real, criticized the fact that the insertion of data in the database currently depends on the decision of each judge and argues that it is necessary to automate this process to be more successful.

“In the case of the convicted, we have the assumption of having an order of the judge. There are magistrates who understand that the profile must be integrated in the base and others that do not.  Therefore we have a number below what could exist today and what exists In most European databases, “Francisco Côrte Real told Público.

The supervisory board of the DNA Profiles Database has already submitted to Parliament a proposal to revise the law that created this platform. If the proposal is accepted, the samples of those sentenced will automatically go to the database.

The Metropolitan Command of Lisbon of the Public Security Police, in furtherance of its  objectives of crime prevention and tackling illicit crimes in general, in the period between 07:00 p.m. on February 10 and 0700 hrs on February 17, carried out 182 police operations resulting in:

• Detention of 332 citizens for various crimes:
  73 Driving under the influence of alcohol;
  51 For Narcotics Traffic;
  36 By Driving without legal authorization;
  24 By Theft;
  7 For disobedience;
  7 For Resistance and Employee Compensation;
  6 For illegal possession of a weapon;
  8 For Theft;
  3 For pickpocketing;
  3 Illegal immigration;
  93 By Arrest Warrant;
  21 For Other Crimes.
• From the operational activity, it was possible to apprehend the following material:
   40 Weapons:
  14 Shotguns;
  10 blank weapons;
  6 Revolvers;
  4 Weapon of 6.35 mm;
  2 Weapons of 9 mm;
  3 Bats, and
  1 Aerosol defence.
  577 Ammunition.

• Narcotics
  4,766,464 Doses of narcotic product suspected of being Hashish;
  251.70 Doses of narcotic product suspected of being heroin;
  53.85 Doses of narcotic product suspected of being Cocaine;

• Road fatalities:
  Total Accidents: 417;
  The number of dead: 00;
  Number of Serious Injured: 01;
  Number of Light Injured: 130.

On 15th February at 1500 hrs the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon, through the Police Division of Sintra, in Agualva – Cacém, arrested a 32 – year – old man, in execution of an arrest warrant for robbery.

Last December, in Agualva-Cacém, the suspect approached the victim, under the age of 14, and after threatening him stole a cell phone.

During the course of an investigation it was found that the suspect is connected to four other robberies.

The detainee appeared before the Judicial Court of the District of Lisbon West, Nucleus of Sintra, for 1st Judicial Interrogation, and has been placed in preventative custody.

The Territorial Command of Aveiro, through the Criminal Investigation Center of Santa Maria da Feira, deatined on 16th February, in Lourosa – Santa Maria da Feira, a 49-year-old individual for trafficking in narcotics.

The detention was the result of a criminal investigation into drug trafficking, and a home search and a non-domiciliary search (vehicle) were carried out, which allowed us to understand:

· Six kilograms of hashish (equivalent to 12,004 doses);

· 140 euros in cash;

· Two mobile phones;

· A vehicle.

The detainee, with a criminal record for drug trafficking, is currently being presented to the court.

On 17^th February 2017 the PSP received 34 new vehicles, including several BMWs, valued at 885,000 euros, which will be distributed among the various commands, including Porto, and for various services such as traffic, patrol and protection of witnesses.

The car delivery ceremony, which took place at the national police headquarters, was attended by the Minister of Internal Affairs for whom these new vehicles are “a very important reinforcement for the PSP, for the renewal of its car fleet and for strengthening the capacity of the PSP “.

Regarding the acquisition contract, Constancia Urbano de Sousa explained that the concern was that the commitment to the brand had included the maintenance of the vehicles during six years or 200 thousand kilometers.

For the national director of the PSP, Luís Farinha, these 34 new vehicles will help address police needs and reduce the average age of vehicles and their intensive use.

Earlier this month, the Association of Police Professionals (ASPP / PSP) denounced that 50% of the vehicles of the Metropolitan Command of the PSP of Porto are not operational due to lack of funds to carry out the respective repair.

SEF said Friday that the staff at Lisbon airport has been strengthened in recent months due to the number and origin of flights and announced the placement of five more inspectors in this infrastructure for next week.

In a statement, the Foreigners and Border Service adds that the reinforcement of the staff at Humberto Delgado airport in Lisbon has been “being carried out in accordance with the planning of the number of flights and their origins, so as to try to match the specificities “Of this infrastructure.

According to the SEF, 22 new inspectors reinforced border control in January and 11 in early February, and there was also an increase in the number of staff at Lisbon airport during the summer of 2016, with the placement of 45 trainees.

The SEF guarantee comes after the union representing the inspectors of that security service and the executive director of ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal stated that there is a shortage of SEF elements at the Lisbon airport at Lisbon airport.

That security service stresses that the SEF’s effect on border control at this airport was 150 inspectors in 2016, and now 183 inspectors.

SEF adds that five new inspectors will reinforce this service over the next week.

“The Aliens and Borders Service has been responding to the increase in air traffic and the flow of passengers at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon, fulfilling the mission entrusted to it as a security service, in particular with regard to the control of persons On the Portuguese border and the European Union – Schengen, “he says.

SEF also clarifies that “whenever there is an increase in air traffic and passenger flow” at Portuguese airports, namely between June and October, it has made “the necessary adjustment according to the needs of the border control”.

In the statement, the SEF goes on to say that the growth in air traffic and passenger traffic in the last 14 months, especially at Humberto Delgado Airport, “is extremely complex and involves challenges that do not only relate to SEF’s mission in the Border control “.

“The SEF has no responsibility for airport infrastructure safety, but only for controlling the air border at the international airport,” he said, adding that 45 new inspectors have been in training since November. New reinforcement during the summer.

On Thursday, Acácio Pereira, president of the Career and Research Union of the Aliens and Borders Service (SCIF / SEF), defended the annual recruitment of 100 new elements during the next decade due to the personnel shortage that exists Not only at the airport, but also throughout the country. Source Jornel de Noticais

A man, a native of Madeira, accused of setting fire to the area of ​​the parish of Camacha, Santa Cruz municipality, the neighbouring municipality east of Funchal, has been found guilty in court. He was arrested by the Public Security Police (PSP) on the night of 15^th August 2016

“The court has decided to sentence a three-year prison sentence, which, given the criminal background, cannot be suspended, is effective,” said the presiding judge of the court, Filipe Câmara, arguing that the man “accepted almost full facts” of which he had been accused.

The court found that the man, at around 2200 hrs on 12^th August after consuming alcohol all day”,  decided with a lighter to set fire to a zone of bush in the area of ​​his residence in Camacha , Santa Cruz county, east of Madeira, where he lived with his mother and a brother, the latter who warned firefighters.

The judge pointed out that the fire “quickly spread but did not reach greater proportions due to the rapid intervention of the firemen”.  It consumed about 1200 meters of weeds and some trees.

The court found that the defendant knew that he “endangered other people’s property and the life integrity” of others, but took into account that “the damage was not so high.”

This case was the less serious of the two cases of people detained in August for this type of crime. In the other a 23-year-old man was charged with three homicides for allegedly setting fire to the parish of São Roque, in the outskirts of Funchal.

Ricardo Gouveia pointed out that there was “a set of mitigating factors”, namely that the accused “fully confessed, presented himself as caregiver of the family and, besides, the damages were not many”.

The lawyer also said that the defendant needs “psychiatric and psychological help,” presenting “symptoms” of pyromania, adding that “he will speak to the family of the accused to seriously consider filing a motion to obtain a less severe sentence. Source Jornel de Noticais

On 3 and 14 February, the Territorial Command of Setúbal arrested six people of Irish nationality for  fraud.

After being presented to court, four were remanded in custody (one awaiting extradition to France) and the other two were subject to expiration of identity and residence.

The modus operandi of this European group, known as “The Tar Gang”, consisted in providing paving services at a reduced cost, with excess tar from previous works, and only charging the value of labour.

Once the agreement was done, and before any construction construction machines arrived on site the victims were coerced to pay the full service well above the agreed value.

According to a report in the Diario de Noticais The disappearance of at least service 50 Glock pistols that were stored in the PSP National Directorate – the Penha de France headquarters – maybe being investigated into a broader investigation into international arms trafficking network.

The disappearance of at least service 50 Glock pistols that were stored in the PSP National Directorate – the Penha de France headquarters – are beginning to consolidate: an international arms trafficking network.

Last week, the Spanish authorities informed PSP that they had apprehended suspects detained in a police operation recovering three Glock pistols with the inscription “Security Forces”, the same one that is engraved on the weapons used by PSP, GNR and SEF. It was confirmed that they belonged to the batch of missing weapons from the PSP National Directorate, which is already being investigated and has resulted in the preventive suspension of two agents.

The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) confirmed to the Diario de Noticais the opening of an investigation, without giving details, for being “in secrecy of justice”. The impact of the case is exacerbated by the fact that PSP is the security force that has sole competence for all control, licensing and control of weapons in our country.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP), however, gave a vote of confidence and delegated to the PSP itself the investigation, but if the crime of international traffic is confirmed, the investigation may have to be extended to the Judicial Police, which has exclusive jurisdiction to investigate this category of crime.

The investigation is being carried out by a special team. This started at the end of last January, when a Glock pistol was seized in a routine operation in the Pasteleira neighbourhood of Porto, with the same inscription as those used by the police – “Security Forces”. The suspected drug trafficker was a 21-year-old civilian resident in the neighbourhood. During the operation, 24 Glock ammunition (9 mm) and four loaders were also seized.

Upon consulting the PSP’s internal weapons registry, the Glock’s serial number was found to be part of the batch at the PSP headquarters.