The Polícia Judiciária, with the support of the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, has launched an operation to combat international drug trafficking by sea. A recreational vessel carrying approximately 263 kilograms of cocaine was intercepted in international waters, as announced on Monday.
The vessel, about 14 meters in length, was making the Atlantic Ocean crossing between Latin America and Europe, according to a PJ statement sent to the media.
“Following searches of the said vessel, which was escorted to the port of Ponta Delgada in the Azores, arriving this morning, two foreign crew members were arrested red-handed, a man and a woman aged 58 and 66, respectively,” the authority revealed.
The operation, named ‘Albus,’ was conducted by the PJ’s National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking and was launched under the inquiry directed by the DIAP of Lisbon. It involved collaboration with Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, France’s Direction Nationale du Renseignement et des Enquêtes Douanières, the UK’s National Crime Agency, and the support of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics based in Lisbon.
After concluding the investigation procedures, the detainees will be presented to the Judicial authority for a first interrogation and application of coercive measures.
Ton and a Half of Cocaine Hidden in Animal Hides
Less than a week ago, last Wednesday, the PJ announced another major cocaine seizure. Two men were arrested, one a former member of the National Republican Guard (GNR), strongly suspected of committing the crime of international narcotics trafficking, and a ton and a half of cocaine was seized, hidden in animal hides.
The arrests were part of a police operation initiated by the Northern Directorate of the PJ, following an investigation started in July, with the close collaboration of American agencies DEA and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and the Tax and Customs Authority (ATA).
The investigation originated from “the activity of a particular company that imported three containers of hides from Latin America”, according to the PJ.
Suspecting that the three containers could be used for transporting illicit substances, the PJ “requested the ATA’s collaboration in inspecting the containers at the Port of Leixões, confirming the suspicions by detecting a very large quantity of cocaine packages among the animal hides.”
“Through constant monitoring of those containers,” the PJ tracked their removal from the port area to a warehouse in the Fafe area, where the two suspects were arrested as they began the unloading and storage of the merchandise.
