The Judiciary Police have detained three men with links to an international criminal organization in Lisbon on Thursday when they tried to obtain 150,000 euros that resulted from computer frauds and were being laundered by Portuguese banks.

According to the director of the National Unit for Combating Cybercrime and Technological Crime (UNC3T), Carlos Cabreiro, this is an organized criminal group originating in Latvia that carries out computer frauds (violating user name and access code), removing money from bank accounts and making it pass through accounts in various countries, to disguise its origin.

The men – aged 22-39 – were arrested on Thursday caught in the act as they tried to obtain 150,000 euros from bank branches in Lisbon.

“We were aware of the possibility of these individuals moving to bank branches where they had opened accounts and this allowed their interception followed by detention,” said Carlos Cabreiro in a statement to reporters at the PJ’s Lisbon headquarters.

In the scope of this operation were also domiciliary searches undertaken in which falsified foreign identification documents and bank documentation were seized related to the illegal activities they undertook.

The Judiciary Police is pursuing investigations to ascertain the extent of criminal activity.

Men will be present today in court for interrogation and enforcement.