The Azores Situation Report Wednesday 21^st June 2023

PJ seized in 2023 in the Azores drugs equivalent to 90% of the total for 2022.

The Judiciary Police seized in the Azores, in the first six months of the year, 78 kilos of drugs, mostly hashish, but also cocaine, heroin and synthetic substances, in an amount equivalent to 90% of the total for 2022, said the regional coordinator.

“In 2022, there was a very significant increase in seizures: 60% more than in 2021. In the first half of this year, we already seized an amount equivalent to 90% of last year’s total”, said the coordinator of the Judiciary Police (PJ).

In 2022 the security force seized more than 88 kilos of drugs in the region, enough for more than 216 thousand doses.

These substances were introduced into the Azorean archipelago “by air, through the postal circuit, and by sea, in the case of the importation of goods “, where the narcotic product may be concealed, and “through drug couriers by air”.

The coordinator said that “the seizure of hashish prevails”, the narcotic substance “most sought after and consumed” in the Azores, as well as in the national and international whole.

In the last three years, “a set of more than 53,000 doses of synthetic substances for consumption” in the region and which were imported were seized.

In 2023, a very significant amount of methamphetamine was also seized, close to 20,000 doses, an “ultra-potent synthetic drug that is also sold in the region”.

The official described that from 2019 there has been an increase in the level of seizures of these substances, especially methamphetamines that are even produced in the region, although “on a small scale”, in small laboratories located in homes.

Consumers resort to these new psychoactive substances (NSP) because “they are easy to buy” over the internet, with prices “lower than conventional drugs”, but which can have similar effects.

According to Renato Furtado, the problem “is not confined to Ponta Delgada”, but is found mainly in São Miguel, the largest island in the Azores.

“The north coast of São Miguel also has quite significant problems”, he pointed out.

Also, according to the official, “there has been some increase in violent crime in recent years”, starting in 2019, and “almost half of the perpetrators of these crimes were drug users in the Azores”.

Renato Furtado underlined that the PJ in the archipelago focuses on the entry points for drugs in the region, by air and sea.

“We know that the region is a crossing point for large amounts of narcotics destined for the European continent. This is also our concern, as well as entry via postal circuit”, he maintained.

At stake, he underlined, is a global, regional and local phenomenon: “There has been a significant increase in seizures of different types of drugs everywhere – in Portugal [at national level] and also in the Azores.”

Also, the intendant of the Regional Command of the PSP Ruben Medeiros told Lusa that that police force has seen, since 2020, “an increase in the quantities of material seized, specifically the so-called synthetic drugs and NSP”, imported.

“We are not talking about astronomical amounts, but there has been an upward trend in the amounts seized by the PSP, with a higher prevalence on the island of São Miguel of consumption and small-scale trafficking”, he said, in an interview with Lusa.

Asked about drug trafficking in some places of great movement of people, in the city of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, the official assured that the PSP “focuses greater preventive and repressive attention on these areas”.

“The phenomenon can be overcome, but it appears that there is a transfer to another location. The PSP is attentive to criminal dynamics, both in terms of schedules and in terms of geographic space and acts”, he reinforced.

Ruben Medeiros admitted that drug use can lead to the practice of a certain type of crime, namely theft or violence.

Incident between a car and a SATA plane in Ponta Delgada

An incident with a vehicle from the catering company, during the operation of refuelling an aircraft, at Ponta Delgada airport, caused the temporary immobilization of the Azores Airlines aircraft.

This incident forced the airline to reorganize its air operations, raising the possibility of cancelling some of the planned flights.

Tennis player Novak Djokovic on vacation in the Azores

Serbian Novak Djokovic, considered by many to be one of the best tennis players of all time, is on vacation on the island of São Miguel, along with his wife, Jelena Djokovic.