The Lisbon Court of Appeal (TRL) has upheld a 20-year prison sentence handed down in the first instance for aggravated drug trafficking, criminal conspiracy for trafficking, and money laundering, according to a statement released today regarding various appeals in this case.
In an appeal filed this January, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) requested that the defendant’s sentence be increased to 24 years of imprisonment.
Regarding Rúben Oliveira, the appellate judges decided to partially uphold the appeal concerning extended loss and consequently set his incongruent assets at 1,396,025.99 euros, confirming the rest of the appealed decision.
In the first instance, the incongruent assets of Rúben Oliveira and his wife, Carla Paradela Oliveira, also a defendant in the process, were set at 1,675,898.79 euros. Carla Paradela Oliveira received a suspended sentence of two years.
On November 22, 2024, the court sentenced approximately a dozen defendants to prison terms ranging from eight to 20 years in a cocaine trafficking case. The primary suspect, accused of leading the criminal organization, Rúben Oliveira, known as ‘Xuxas,’ received the heaviest sentence of 20 years.
In addition to ‘Xuxas,’ the trial included 15 individual defendants and three companies charged with cocaine trafficking, criminal conspiracy, and money laundering, with the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) seeking exemplary convictions.
According to the MP’s accusation, the criminal group led by Rúben Oliveira maintained “close ties” with drug trafficking organizations in Brazil and Colombia and had been importing large quantities of cocaine from South America since mid-2019.
‘Xuxas’ organization, as alleged, extended its operations through various logistical structures in Portugal, including the seaports of Setúbal and Leixões and Lisbon airport, leveraging its influence to import considerable amounts of cocaine without detection by port and national authorities.
In these locations, the Judicial Police made cocaine seizures involving defendants allegedly acting on orders from Rúben Oliveira.
The cocaine was introduced into Portugal via import companies dealing in fruits and other food and non-food items, utilizing maritime containers. The drug also entered the country in luggage via air travel from Brazil.
The defendants allegedly employed “encrypted systems typically used by major global criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and violent crime” for communication.
