An anonymous report on the morning of 19th October has led the Military Judiciary Police (PJM) to find in Chamusca weapons of war stolen from the Tancos military base, the Diário de Notícias reported.
Forty four weapons of war, grenades and explosives were intercepted. War material missing from military warehouses on June 28 has now been found scattered in the middle of the bush at Chamusca, 21 kilometers from the Tancos military base. Only the ammunition was not intercepted.
The Military Judicial Police (PJM) said in the communiqué that, in the context of investigations to combat trafficking and illicit trade in war material, “that this morning 19th October 2017 they had recovered in the Chamusca region, with the collaboration of the criminal investigation unit of the GNR of Loulé, war material stolen from the National Parks of Tancos “, quotes Lusa.
According to the PJM, “the recovered material is already in the Paiais de Santa Margarida, guarded by the Army, where the expert’s assessment is being carried out for further identification.”
The PJM recovered almost all the war material stolen in the Tancos warehouses, with the exception of 9mm ammunition, has been recovered, the source said. The same source said that the expert’s work for the detailed identification of the material is not yet completed, but it is already possible to confirm that the ammunition is still missing.
Among the stolen material the Army reported in June were offensive hand grenades, 9mm ammunition, rocket grenades, tear gas grenades and explosives. Ministry notes “relevance of the operation” of the PJM and says that it is necessary to wait,
The Ministry of National Defence today highlighted the “relevance of the operation” of the PJM, which recovered the stolen material in Tancos, stressing that it is necessary to await the completion of the investigation.
Contacted by Lusa, an official source of the Ministry of National Defence pointed out the “relevance of the operation” of the PJM that allowed the retrieval of stolen military material in the National Tanks of Tancos, stressing, however, the need to “wait for the conclusion of the investigation.” “As has always been said by the Minister of National Defence, it will be necessary to wait for the conclusion of the ongoing criminal investigation to know all the contours related to the theft of war material from the National Tanks of Tancos,” said the Cabinet of Minister Azeredo Lopes.
The case is “investigated in the context of an investigation conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Central Department of Criminal Investigation and Action.” The process, he adds, is being led by the Public Prosecutor’s Office assisted by the National Counter-Terrorism Unit of the Judiciary Police and with the collaboration of the Military Judiciary Police. “This investigation does not have defendants constituted and is in the secret of justice,” he concludes.