The Judiciary Police announced this Thursday, March 5, the arrest of three men and the constitution of nine defendants on suspicion of being part of a criminal network that introduced prohibited substances into prisons.
According to a statement, the National Anti-Corruption Unit carried out on Wednesday, the 4th, a police operation in the municipalities of Lisbon, Sintra, Leiria and Setúbal, in which three men were arrested, in flagrante delicto, on strong suspicion of committing the crimes of trafficking in prohibited substances and methods, criminal association, corruption and personal favoritism, and nine natural persons and one collective were constituted as defendants.
“Those targeted are suspected of being part of an organized criminal network that, on a repeated basis, was dedicated to the introduction of prohibited substances into the prison environment, as well as into the non-prison environment”, says the PJ, adding that, within the scope of this investigation, running at DIAP in Sintra, 19 search warrants were executed, home and non-domestic, including two prison establishments.
In this operation, the PJ seized a large quantity of prohibited substances and seized two firearms, two crypto asset wallets containing 150 thousand euros, 26 thousand euros in cash, a high-powered vehicle, in addition to several “evidence elements of extreme relevance to the investigation, both in physical and digital form”.
The Portuguese detainees, aged between 39 and 62, will be presented for the first judicial interrogation this Thursday, with a view to the application of coercive measures.
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