The Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 21st December 2022
by Mike Evans
Good day to all our followers in the Algarve on this last report before the Christmas Holidays. For many the talking point has been the weather and the large amount of rain that has fallen in the past couple of weeks. The reservoirs are filling up and are now at 72% of what is required nationally but according to the APA, the water situation in the Algarve region is currently the most worrying in terms of availabilities, in particular Barlavento, where Bravura and Odelouca stand out, with very low levels of recovery, in particular Bravura which recorded additional storage of just 0.3 hm3 since the beginning of the hydrological year, on October 1st.
Across the region the temperatures are due to remain in the late teens for the rest of the month with nights staying quite mild so a good opportunity to visit all the various Christmas festivities that are happening across the region.
In the region this past week we can report the following arrests occurred.
25,000 euros and cocaine seized in house searches
The Public Security Police (PSP) seized on Friday, December 16, 25 thousand euros and 60 individual doses of cocaine during two house searches in the municipality of Faro , announced the security force.
Through the Criminal Investigation Squadron of the Faro Police Division, the seizure took place during the execution of two house search warrants at the residences of three suspects of various crimes such as aggravated homicide.
Several weighing and packaging materials for the narcotic product were also seized, which were found inside the suspects’ residences, one of them possessing several firearms, and a tactical team from the Special Operations Group of the Special Police Unit of the PSP.
This was a joint operation between the PSP, the Judiciary Police and the National Republican Guard, with the three suspects being accused and detained for presentation to the Judiciary Authority.
Man arrested while trying to steal a car
The Territorial Command of Faro , through the Territorial Post of Almancil, this Tuesday detained a 38-year-old man red-handed for stealing a vehicle, in Almancil, in the municipality of Loulé.
As part of a complaint for the theft of a vehicle, the GNR military carried out investigations that culminated in the identification of the individual and the location of the stolen vehicle, which was next to the suspect’s dwelling.
Following the action, the man was arrested for theft of the vehicle, and a vehicle was seized; a mobile phone; a computer and a wallet with personal documents.
The detainee, with a criminal record for offences of the same nature, was made a defendant and the facts were communicated to the Judicial Court of Loulé.
Algarve singer Claudisabel dies in Car Crash
The Algarve singer Claudisabel died in the early hours of this Monday, December 19, in a car accident that occurred on the A2, near Alcácer do Sal.
The death of Cláudia Isabel Leiria Madeira was confirmed through the official Facebook page of the artist from Loulé , who had participated on Sunday, December 18, in the SIC television program, “Domingão”, in Castanheira de Pêra.
The accident between two light vehicles took place around 01:55, at kilometre 85 of that road, still resulting in a slight injury.
The artist’s car overturned after the collision, with rescue operations having to carry out extrication and advanced rescue work.
At the accident site, 12 vehicles and 24 operators were present, including the Alcácer do Sal, Brisa and National Republican Guard firefighters.
The singer’s death was declared on the spot by the doctor of the Medical Emergency and Resuscitation Vehicle of the Hospital do Litoral Alentejano, in Santiago do Cacém, with the body later being transported to the morgue of this hospital unit.
The Portuguese popular music singer was 40 years old, with a career that began in 1995 and which accumulated some hits such as “Não Vou Voltar a Chorar”, “Super Apaixonada”, “Está Tudo Acabado”, “Condenada” and “Sabe Semper a Little”.
In 2002 she participated in the reality show “Big Brother Famosos”, on TVI. Our condolences go to all her family and friends.
Man’s body found floating off Vilamoura Marina
The authorities recovered this Friday the body of a man off the coast of the Vilamoura marina (Loulé), but do not know the causes and circumstances of death, announced the National Maritime Authority ( AMN ).
The body was seen “floating off the marina” in the Algarve coastal town by a member of the public, who alerted the authorities at 11:21 am, and elements from the Faro Maritime Police Local Command and the Faro Maritime Station were called to help. Quarteira lifeguards , explained AMN in a statement.
The same source clarified that the Quarteira Lifeguard Station team rescued the body ashore, where it was possible to verify that it was a male person “with several abrasions in the abdominal area and a deep puncture in the chest area”, revealed the same source. The Health Delegate went to the place where the death was declared, and the Public Ministry and the Judiciary Police took over the investigation and carried out “due diligence” to be able to clarify the case, the Maritime Authority also said. The body was taken to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Faro.
Operation Palangre: Five suspects arrested for aggravated homicide
The Judiciary Police (PJ) suspects that the murder of a man, on December 2, in the municipality of Faro , by five suspects arrested this Friday, was a “settling of accounts” related to “trafficking and consumption narcotics”.
“It could be an unresolved issue” or “a reckoning” related to “drug trafficking and consumption”, said the director of the Southern Directorate of the PJ, Fernando Girão, in a clarification session to the press that took place this afternoon in Faro.
The head of that security force in the Algarve said that the fatal victim, aged 35, belonged to the well-known motorcycle group Hells Angels, the same not being the case of the five suspects arrested.The PJ detained four men and one woman, aged between 35 and 48, suspected of “qualified homicide”, with a firearm, of a man, in the municipality of Faro, revealed this morning that security force.
According to a statement, “the crime took place on the night of December 2, 2022, in a remote location in the Algarve mountains, to which the victim was taken, under duress, by the suspects”.
Fernando Girão explained that the victim was “forcefully transported” to the place where he was found lifeless, by people, on December 4, two days after he was killed in a “very violent” way with “two shots , one on the head and the other on the neck.
“As soon as the judicial authority requests it,the five suspects will be brought before a judge,” said the regional director of the PJ, adding that the legal deadline for this to happen, at most, is 48 hours after the arrest.
In the operation called “Palangre”, the PJ’s Southern Directorate arrested the four men and one woman in compliance with arrest warrants issued by the Faro Department of Investigation and Penal Action, for “strong indications of the crime of aggravated homicide”. , which took place in the municipality of Faro.
That security force reports in the communiqué released at the end of today’s morning that, as a result of the investigation carried out, which had the collaboration of the commands of the National Republican Guard (GNR) and the Public Security Police (PSP) of Faro, Five house searches were carried out this morning, “six firearms were seized, relevant evidence elements and the aforementioned arrests were carried out”.
Following the investigation, it was found that the victim, a 35-year-old man, “was fatally shot by the suspects, individuals with a history of particularly violent crime”.
The PJ indicates that “the crime was motivated by disputes regarding drug trafficking and consumption, having been consummated using a firearm”.
The victim was subject to the coercive measure of obligation to stay in the house under electronic surveillance, having been absent from the residence about two weeks before being murdered, and has been sought by the authorities since that date.
And Finally can I take this opportunity to wish all our Algarve followers a very Happy Christmas and Stay Safe.