Two men who escaped late Monday afternoon from the Alcoentre Prison in the municipality of Azambuja, district of Lisbon, have been captured, the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP) confirmed.
“They were captured a few minutes ago by the GNR,” the source stated around 07:40.
Further details will be provided later, the source indicated.
Hélder Angélico, aged 37, was serving a four-year and nine-month sentence for robbery. Augusto Dinis, aged 44, had been sentenced to five years and eight months for drug trafficking.
The escapees had been convicted for drug trafficking and robbery, receiving sentences of five years and eight months and four years and nine months, respectively.
The escape, reportedly premeditated, occurred after dinner, around 18:20, with the two prisoners scaling the wall using a rope.
In response to the event, the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP) stated that “an internal investigation will be conducted by the Audit and Inspection Service coordinated by a Magistrate of the Public Ministry, to determine the circumstances of the occurrence.” The escape was reported to the Public Ministry (MP) and the authorities.
The two Portuguese nationals, serving sentences for robbery and drug trafficking, escaped at 18:20 this Monday, after dinner. One of the surveillance towers had been left inactive in that area from Sunday to Monday. Here’s what is known.
The leader of the National Union of the Prison Guard Corps (SNCGP), Frederico Morais, pointed out that “the inmates escaped because there were no prison guards to monitor the perimeter of the Alcoentre prison.”
“Yesterday [Sunday], in Alcoentre, there was a throwing of mobile phones into the prison. The tower they escaped from yesterday was active; we detected the mobile phones. Today, by decision of our leadership, it was decided it would not be active,” he claimed in statements to SIC Notícias.
Frederico Morais also revealed that Augusto Dinis had been transferred “from Ponta Delgada because he had tried to escape.” “He was placed in a semi-open prison. In other words, we didn’t take care with a person who was being transferred for attempted escape,” he stated.
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