The Judiciary Police, in an investigation by the DIAP of Sintra, in an investigation for crimes of drug trafficking, criminal association and money laundering, have carried out a vast operation involving the execution of 100 search warrants and the arrest of 52 people, 49 in execution of arrest warrants and three who were caught in the act.
The operation took place in a neighbourhood of Lisbon, and several items of considerable relevance to the investigation, including narcotics, money, cars and prohibited weapons, were seized.
The operation, undertaken by the National Counter Terrorism Unit (UNCT), involved 260 investigators from the Lisbon, Coimbra, Leiria, and Setúbal units, due to its scale.
The detainees, 43 men and 9 women, aged between 17 and 61, will be present at the first judicial interrogation in order to apply coercive measures.
Coordinator of Criminal Investigation of the PJ, Patrícia Silveira, who coordinated this operation stated that “The operation was aimed at a perfectly structured criminal association, with a defined leadership, with various levels with attribution of tasks, responsibilities, and engaged in organized drug trafficking”.
“Most of these individuals had long police records for such crimes, some of whom had even served prison terms and we therefore consider some of them to be dangerous,” she added.
The operation which took place on 16th November took 3 days to prepare and was within the framework of organized crime investigations that have lasted for two years.