Year: 2019

Given the weather forecast for the coming days, which point to a significant increase in the risk of forest fire, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development today (12th September) signed the Order determining the Alert Situation Statement for the period. between 00:01 hrs on 13 September and 23:59 on 14 September 2019 for the whole of mainland Portugal.

The Alert Status Statement results from the following factors:

• The Technical-Operational Communiqué of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) that determines, until September 14, 2019, the issue of the Red Level Special Alert State of the Special Rural Firefighting Device (DECIR) in the districts of Setúbal, Lisbon, Santarém, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Guarda, Viseu, Vila Real and Bragança;
• ANEPC’s technical-operational communiqué determining the maintenance of the Orange Level Special Alert Status for the remaining districts of mainland Portugal;
• The need to adopt preventive and special measures of reaction to the risk of fire.

Exceptional measures under the Alert Situation are:

• Increased readiness and operational response by GNR and PSP, with reinforcement of means for surveillance, surveillance, behaviour deterrent patrols and general support for protective and distress operations that may be triggered, considering – for this purpose, the interruption of vacation leave and / or suspension of breaks and rest periods is authorized;
• Increased readiness and mobilization of emergency medical, public health and psychosocial support teams, by the competent health and social security entities, through their respective Guardianships;
• Permanent mobilization of Forest Sapper teams;
• Permanent mobilization of the National Corps of Forest Agents (CNAF) and the Nature Watchers that are part of the fire prevention and fighting device, by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, I. P., through their respective Guardianships;
• Increased readiness of response teams of entities with special duty of cooperation in the areas of communications (fixed and mobile network operators) and energy (transport and distribution);
• Prohibition of access, circulation and permanence within the forest spaces, previously defined in the Municipal Forest Fire Protection Plans (PMDFCI), as well as in the forest paths, rural paths and other paths through them;
• Prohibition of burning and burning of operating surplus;
• Total ban on the use of fireworks or other pyrotechnic devices, regardless of their form of combustion, as well as the suspension of authorizations issued in districts where the Red Level Special Alert Status has been declared by the ANEPC;
• Public service waiver of Public Administration workers who perform cumulatively the duties of volunteer firefighter, pursuant to the provisions of article 26-A of Decree-Law No. 241/2007, of 21 June, except those who perform public service functions to provide health care in emergency situations, namely prehospital emergency technicians (TEPH) and nurses from INEM – National Institute of Medical Emergency, IP and security forces;
• Exemption from the service of private sector workers who cumulatively perform the duties of volunteer firefighter, in districts in which the Red Level Special Alert State has been declared by ANEPC, pursuant to article 26 of Decree-Law no. 241/2007, of June 21;
• Use of available means provided for in the National Plan and District Civil Protection Emergency Plans;
• Prohibition of carrying out work in forest spaces, except those associated with rural firefighting situations, with the use of blade or metal disc shovels, cutters, shredders and machines with blade or front shovel.

The Order determines to ANEPC the issuance of a Population Warning about the danger of rural fires and also provides the request to the Air Force, through the Ministry of National Defence, the availability of air resources to be operational, if necessary, in the Air Centres to be determined by ANEPC.

The Alert Situation Statement also determines the immediate activation of the territorially competent institutional coordination structures (National Operational Coordination Centre and District Operational Coordination Centres).

Lisbon, September 12, 2019

From September 4th until midnight yesterday, September 10th, under the Alert Status operation, the GNR, through SEPNA, criminal investigation units, cavalry units and GIPS, strengthened surveillance, and ground patrolling throughout the mainland to help prevent forest fires.

In addition, the GNR, using a Portuguese Air Force (FAP) helicopter, carried out air patrols, focusing on districts that are in Special Alert State, with very high and maximum fire risk.

In addition to its normal FAP (pilot and mechanic) garrison, the helicopter was carrying two GNR military personnel, who were constantly observing the forest areas, in order to detect activities that violated the stated declaration, or that constitute suspicious criminal behaviour..

During the air patrol carried out yesterday, September 10, near Rio Maior, the air surveillance detected an illegal forestry activity, using machinery, an activity that is prohibited because the Alert Situation in place.

The military, who were in the helicopter, transmitted the GPS coordinates to the ground patrol, which allowed them to intercept and identify two men, 22 and 56 years old, employees of a forestry company, which operated two wood loading and hauling machines. As a result the men immediately ceased work.

The facts were sent to the Judicial Court of Santarém for further action

As the entity responsible for coordinating national forest surveillance patrols during the Warning Status period, GNR coordinated a total of 5 780 patrols, of which 3,846 were carried out by GNR themselves. A total of 7 836 military were involved travelling more than 222,000 kms. During this period, the GNR still identified 24 individuals and detained 4 others, due to the suspicion of the crime of forest fires.

Lisbon, 09 Sep 2019 (Lusa) – The Judicial Police (PJ) has dismantled one of Europe’s largest counterfeit money chains, in an operation in which five people were arrested and more than 1,800 counterfeit 50 and 10 euro bank notes were seized.

In a statement, PJ explains that, through the National Anti-Corruption Unit and with the collaboration of EUROPOL, it dismantled the counterfeit  network, marketed through the so-called ‘darknet’, in an operation involving eight home and non-domestic searches.

In the “Deep Money” operation 1,833 counterfeit banknotes (1,290 banknotes of 50 € and 543 of 10 €), with a total of  €69,930 euros, as well as “various objects related to the production of banknotes, namely computers, printers, paper with security filament incorporation, holograms and self-adhesive holographic bands, ultraviolet inks and ink cartridges ”.

Five people, three men and two women, aged 26 to 63, were arrested for crimes of counterfeiting and criminal association. The leader of the criminal group was a Portuguese resident of Colombia, who was detained under an International Arrest Warrant.

The five detainees were in custody.

“This criminal network had been operating since at least the beginning of 2017 and was responsible for the production of over 26,000 notes, mostly from € 50,” says PJ.

This operation included other units of the Judicial Police, namely the National Unit to Combat Cybercrime and Technological Crime and the Scientific Police Laboratory.

Counterfeit banknotes were seized almost everywhere in Europe, with a higher incidence in France, Germany, Spain and Portugal, reaching a value of over €1.3 million.

“Counterfeit notes were advertised in one of darknet’s main markets, with orders received either through private messages on that market or through encrypted chat platforms,” PJ said in the statement, adding that after payment, as a rule, made through virtual currency, “the notes were sent by post from Portugal, where they were being produced”.

“The high quality of the notes produced by this criminal network was recognized by all buyers, based on the use of security paper incorporating security filament, holograms and self-adhesive holographic bands, ultraviolet inks, watermark and sweet cut,” he explains. .

The alleged leader of this criminal group, a Portuguese citizen residing in Colombia since mid-2018 and with a history of various crimes, was arrested there under an International Arrest Warrant issued by the Portuguese authorities following close cooperation with the Colombian authorities. .

“In recent days, the Colombian authorities have expelled them from the country, having been detained by the Judiciary Police, already in the national territory,” adds the PJ.

PJ says it will provide further clarification on the 11:30 operation at the Judiciary Police headquarters in Lisbon.

 

TUESDAY 3^rd SEPTEMBER 1730 HRS

NOTE: This has now been EXTENDED TO 23.59 HRS 10TH SEPTEMBER

 

The National Civil Protection Authority have declared a RED ALERT (the highest level) in the north and centre of the country due to the risk of fire.

The affected 13 districts are: Aveiro, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Santarém, Coimbra, Guarda, Portalegre, Porto, Vila Real, Viana do Castelo, Viseu and Leiria.

ANEPC decided to keep the orange alert, the second highest of the scale, for Beja and Faro, which was already in effect for these districts, and to raise from yellow to orange the alert for Lisbon, Évora and Setúbal, between Wednesday and Sunday. .

Also present at the press conference, ANEPC president Mourato Nunes stressed the importance of everyone being aware of the risk of forest fires, noting that “there are only fires if there are ignitions”.

“There needs to be a great deal of discipline to avoid unnecessary fires,” he said, ensuring the device was set up for rapid and effective intervention, but admitted the occurrence of imponderables and uncontrollable fires.

The envisaged plan consists of 11,492 field operations, supported by 60 air assets, and a reconnaissance helicopter is also available.

At the press conference, Nuno Moreira, from the Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), warned that the coming days will have very high temperatures, reaching 40 degrees in the southern and Tagus Valley regions and being over 30 degrees in the rest of the territory.

It is also expected very hot nights in Lisbon and Tagus Valley, never falling below 20 degrees and very low relative humidity values, particularly on the coast, which is not usual.

Strong wind is still expected, especially in the mountainous regions and in the center and north of the country.

Lisbon, 03 Sep 2019 (Lusa) – The presence of the Asian wasp in Portugal prompted 508 complaints from citizens this year, mostly located in the Porto district (133), with an increase in sightings since 2017, according to Republican National Guard (GNR).

Scientifically named velutina wasp, the Asian wasp recorded the first sighting in Portugal in 2011, in the district of Viana do Castelo, and “since then it has been moving to the south of the country, and Lisbon, until now, It is the southernmost district where there is the presence of the velutine wasp, ”said Ricardo Vaz Alves of the GNR’s Service for Nature and Environment Protection (SEPNA).

“From 2017 to the present year, we have seen an increase in the number of complaints,” said Ricardo Vaz Alves, speaking to Lusa, indicating that in 2017 there were 499 sightings, which increased to 708 in 2018 and that , this year, until August 25, adds 508 situations related to the presence of Asian wasp.

In terms of location, the districts with the most complaints throughout this year were Porto (133), Braga (92), Viseu (60), Aveiro (53) and Coimbra (50).

According to the head of SEPNA, the Asian wasp adapts to the spaces offered to pollinate and also to nest, so “there is no distinction between rural and urban spaces” in the distribution and expansion of this pest in national territory. .

However, the Asian wasp preferentially chooses places with less disturbance, which explains “the rural spaces are more attractive for their installation”.

Through the SOS Environment and Territory line – 808 200 520, GNR is recording the number of complaints, “which are often with sightings,” said Ricardo Vaz Alves, warning that this does not mean that the presence of the Asian wasp is confirmed, “But anyway, there is a record, or at least it is a notion that the citizen has that there is the presence of velutine wasps.”

In 2018, the action plan for the surveillance and control of wasp velutine was implemented in Portugal, aimed at the prevention, surveillance and control of these animals throughout the national territory, with a view to the safety of citizens, the protection of agricultural activity and the beekeeping, as well as minimizing impacts on biodiversity.

Regarding the action plan, GNR, through SEPNA, has participated in surveillance, control and destruction actions, as well as training and dissemination actions, as well as handling and forwarding all complaints received through the SOS Environment and Territory.

In this context, Ricardo Vaz Alves appealed to citizens to avoid destroying the nests, “since if the destruction is not 100% of the nest, the wasp will nest elsewhere, and the problem persists, so the destruction must only by the authorities, in this case municipal civil protection services ”.

GNR has no data on the accounting for damage and damage caused by the presence of the Asian wasp, nor the number of victims.

“There are more and more cases in which reports of the wasp threaten the citizen, but we are unable to do this directly,” said the SEPNA official, explaining that “the wasp itself does not attack people, it has to feel a threat ”, which presupposes a distance of up to five meters.

According to Ricardo Vaz Alves, “whenever [the wasps] feel threatened in their territory they attack and attack in large numbers, not just in isolation”, however “the sting itself is not a danger”, I hope for people who are allergic to the bite.

All information collected on the evolution of velutine wasp in national territory is centralized in the database managed by the Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF), accessible through the SOS Vespa platform (http://www.sosvespa.pt/ web).

PSP has identified 80 bogus violent crime reports in the municipalities of Odivelas and Loures in Lisbon since the beginning of 2018, representing almost 10% of the serious crimes recorded since then. This is according to the PSP Lisbon Metropolitan Command, through the Loures Police Division, quoted in a statement.

They added that this jeopardizes the safety of the community, as the PSP have to deal with these complaints thus detracting from their other work.

During August 2019, PSP counted ten such cases, namely alleged theft of mobile phones, whose complaints were filed at the police stations of Odivelas and Loures.

“Most of the complaints dealt with alleged scenarios of theft of mobile phones, which are insured and of very high value, sometimes reaching above 1000 euros,” said the PSP.

In the light of the events of the past month, the authorities contacted the “alleged injured parties” and found “various weaknesses, inconsistences and contradictions in their testimony, which inevitably led them to admit that their complaint were false.”

In the press release, PSP also said that insurers were informed of the scam in order to ascertain if they had been approached in making bogus claims.

The suspects were constituted defendants and subject to a term of identity and residence.

However, the authorities also point out two situations of false allegations concerning alleged car thefts.

A criminal network set up a clandestine call center in a luxury villa where 17 kidnapped young Taiwanese were forced to cheat people in China

When police they entered that house, situated on a street of luxury villas in Cascais, PJ inspectors could barely see who they were and what exactly those figures were sitting in front of computers with headphones on their ears and speaking to small microphones.

This report is from Diario de Noticais – It makes fascinating reading

Outside it was broad daylight, shortly after lunchtime, but inside that house it was always nighttime, permanently darkened with cloths covering the windows to avoid prying eyes. It stank of tobacco and there were butts everywhere, as well as crumpled plastic cups with leftover coffee.

The ten-and-a-half judiciary operatives braved the darkness, began opening windows, and their faces became faces. Some scared, others indifferent. There were 17 in all – 11 boys and six girls in their 20s and 30s, Taiwanese, and they spoke no language other than Mandarin

A few days earlier, two Taiwanese police officers had been at PJ’s headquarters in Lisbon, with the director of the National Counterterrorism Unit (UNCT), Manuela Santos, with the information that a criminal network in that country, which was dedicated to circumventing it. people over the phone and would have bases in several European countries, could now be using Portugal, on the Cascais line, as a logistics base.

Clandestine call center

The investigation turned attention to that address, a luxury villa that had been rented for six months for eight thousand euros a month.

The scheme had been known to the Taiwanese authorities for some time, but no other police had caught it.

They rent houses for a short time in European countries to install telephone and computer equipment, with enhanced internet capacity, functioning as authentic ‘ call centers’ , from which they make contacts to China, bypassing thousands of Chinese.

“The well-designed and well-trained modus operandi entails forcing the abducted young people to pose as officials of Chinese police and government officials who contact people to convince them that they have access to forbidden content on the internet and have to pay a fine to not be detained “, explains Manuela Santos to DN.

Each call center is typically comprised of 15 to 20 people, with a single person who handles contacts, organization, work and schedules. Someone else is in charge of daily logistics, buying food and other necessities for the ‘workers’.

The 17 young people kidnapped at the Cascais house had been enticed in Taiwan, with the promise of easy, well-paid work in Europe – never telling them what their particular destination was.

“At first they thought they were going to France, but then they came to Portugal. They landed in Lisbon in March and were put in a van directly to the Cascais house, where they never left until we were released in our operation in late May. “reveals the head of the UNCT.

As soon as the young men arrived at the Cascais house, the man who brought them from Taiwan (and who was detained by the PJ) took their passports and personal mobile phones and was then told what they had to do: their mission was to deceive other Chinese. Under the threat that if they refused, their families and friends would retaliate.

A complete script for the swindle

They were given a script with the steps of the approach they had to take to convince those who would be their ‘victims’.

They trained the speeches with each other, perfecting the type of language and mastery of technical concepts, until the recruiter understood that they were fit for real telephone contacts.

Already with the scheme well worked and trained, they were posing as a police or judicial authority that approached the person saying that he had committed an illegal access to internet content not allowed in China. “It may happen that the target does not even have internet, but as they are calling thousands of numbers through a computer application, there is always someone who meets and fits this vulnerability,” says Manuela Santos.

In the first phase there was no talk of money, but then contacts followed, with new papers prepared. Young people pretended to be powerful government officials who dramatized the situation and put pressure on the person to solve the problem

At this time various personal information was being requested from victims, from the composition of their household, to their activity and income. Everything was pointed out on pre-prepared sheets of paper.

The UNCT brigade seized some of these notes in Mandarin, which it showed to DN, but most were destroyed and stored in black garbage bags scattered around the house. “After completing the operation and the money was transferred it was all shredded into machines,” says chef Santos Martins.

The information obtained from this contact served to better prepare the next approach. In the third and final stage, an amount of money was then required to prevent the arrest of the person, who was informed that an arrest warrant had already been issued on his behalf.

Alarmed, everyone opted to transfer to an IBAN provided to them by the group. “The earnings are estimated at thousands of euros,” says Manuela Santos.

A blatant historical

In the PJ operation, two members of the organization were arrested. Twenty-five mobile phones were seized, as well as so many laptops and various wireless equipment – calls were made with mobile phones without cards, only through wifi .

All defendants and young victims have already returned to Taiwan, as the Portuguese investigation aimed to dismantle this criminal core within the Taiwanese inquiry.

The successful operation was kept under reserve at the request of the Taiwanese authorities as they intended to complete the investigation in that territory.

 

The 11,000 kilometers separating Portugal from Taiwan were no frontier for this investigation and, with the contribution of the PJ operation, the country’s police were able to arrest the head of the network this week.

The Taiwanese Criminal Investigation Office praised police cooperation, in a process that, as the PJ pointed out in its official statement on Tuesday, had a historic moment: “This was the first time in Europe that police authorities had been able to dismantle in full performance, such an organized group “.

 

On 26^th august Police detained a 27- and 28-year-old couple suspected of exposing or abandoning a child by leaving their 3-year-old daughter alone for 14 hours in a house in the parish of Star in Lisbon.

“PSP police learned that a child was crying on a terrace alone. Unable to contact the residents of the housing, the police entered the property and removed the child, as her safety was in danger, ”explains the Metropolitan Command of Lisbon (Cometlis) of PSP, in a statement released today.

Already in contact with the “visibly frightened” child, the police found that the girl “had no access to food or water and had a red colour on her face,” indicating “she was exposed to solar radiation whilst on the balcony”.

The child was later taken to the Dona Estefânia Hospital in Lisbon, and after being discharged, “was sent to a shelter where she is being looked after,” the statement said.

“It was later possible to locate the suspects, parents of the child, who during detention and faced with the facts, admitted leaving the child alone in the room since the early afternoon of August 23 [Friday], for about 14 hours, ”says Cometlis, adding that the detention took place at 3:40 am on Saturday.

Police source told the Lusa agency today that the couple, of Ukrainian nationality, are not resident in Portugal.

The detainees were present at the Criminal Instance of the Judicial Court of the District of Lisbon, and were applied the measure of coercion of term of identity and residence.

The process is now with the prosecutor.

Lisbon, 27 Aug 2019 (Lusa) – A man has been arrested and another accused, both Chinese, on suspicion of trafficking, kidnapping and coercion in an operation that took place in June in the Cascais area, the Judiciary Police said today.

According to PJ, the arrests took place following a request by the National Police of Taiwan to cooperate in a case where several Taiwanese citizens were victims of trafficking being held in Portugal under duress and under slavery”.

The National Counter Terrorism Unit (UNCT) located a detached house in the Cascais area where it found and rescued the 17 citizens being deprived of their freedom, documents and unable to maintain contact with the outside.

“At the time of the police action, the two defendants were also found there. It was found on the spot that citizens were coerced into contacts via the Internet, in a scam scheme set up by the detained defendant, with citizens from mainland China, who were extorted high sums under threat of police and judicial persecution in that country ”, explains the PJ

During the operation, several dozen telephone and telecommunications equipment, computer equipment, documents and money were seized.

A man was present at the court interrogation, and was presented as a coercive measure to the police three times a week.

“Given the continuing investigations by the Taiwanese authorities into the prosecution of the principal perpetrators of this illegal activity, the judicial police action has not until now been publicly disclosed,” it said.

The PJ further states that, “Currently several people have been detained and more than a dozen others identified in this criminal scheme in that country.”

In the note, the PJ recalls that this was the first time in Europe that police authorities were able to dismantle such an organized group in full swing.

 

Taiwanese police announced on Friday 23^rd August that they in cooperation with Portuguese police had dismantled in Cascais, Portugal, a network that allegedly defrauded victims in mainland China over the telephone.

In a statement, the Taiwanese Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) highlighted that this is the first case of police cooperation with Portugal through the Portuguese Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The group’s alleged leader, a Taiwanese by the nickname Hsi, decided in March to set up an electronic fraud operation in Portugal.

According to Taiwanese media, the man spent two million Taiwanese dollars (57,000 euros) to recruit 19 Taiwanese, most of them unemployed or financially challenged young people earning a salary of 25,000 Taiwanese dollars (714 euros), along with part of the profits from the operation.

According to the CBI, some members of the group were posing as employees of a mainland China telecommunications company, trying to convince the victims that their mobile phone was being used to send spam messages.

Other members would later call impersonating Chinese police and prosecutors, warning that the victim’s bank account would be frozen and demanding the transfer of money to a group-controlled account.

According to Taiwanese media, in just one week the victims will have lost more than three million Taiwanese dollars (86,000 euros).

Last May the CBI received information about this group and, in cooperation with the Portuguese police, detected the base of this network in Cascais.

That same month, Portuguese police launched a field operation that resulted in the arrest of 19 suspects and the seizure of nine computers, nine tablets and 24 mobile phones.

However, Hsi and an alleged accomplice were only caught by Taiwanese police on Monday in the town of Zhubei in northwest Taiwan.

Of the 19 suspects detained in Cascais, only one has agreed to be tried in Portugal, and the rest have been extradited to Taiwan.

In recent years several networks of scammers from mainland China and Taiwan have been detected who from Africa, Southeast Asia and Oceania were posing as police and government officials.

In several of these cases Taiwanese citizens accused of fraud were deported to mainland China, something that aroused protest from the Taiwanese authorities.