The GNR has dismantled “one of the largest drug supply networks in the district of Porto.”
The operation, carried out this Thursday 14th December, mobilized more than 200 elements of the GNR, including the Intervention and Special Operations Group and involved dozens of searches in Gondomar, Valongo, Felgueiras and Porto. Fifteen men and three women, aged between 18 and 48, were detained.
The investigation was developed by the Criminal Investigation Nucleus of the GNR de Gaia, which targeted a group suspected of engaging in the sale of various types of narcotics in an organized manner. Some of the individuals, according to the JN, had already registered for the same type of crime and also for armed robberies and other crimes against property.
Suspicion that certain suspects possessed firearms meant that the operation was surrounded by strong security measures, including elements of the special forces of the GNR and PSP, which usually operate in higher risk scenarios. Although eight firearms (four shotguns, a rifle, two revolvers and a pistol) were seized, the operation passed without incident.
In addition to the 21 kilograms of heroin – most were found in one of the houses in Gondomar – the GNR seized an additional 16 kilograms of narcotic drugs (hashish, cocaine and liamba), as well as amphetamines and material to mix with the drug.
The operation also included the seizure of more than 94 thousand euros in cash, 17 motor vehicles, four motorcycles, a water jet, 50 mobile phones, 433 packs of tobacco, a cannabis greenhouse and other material.
The detainees are taken this Friday to the Court of Criminal Instruction of Porto, to determine coercive measures