The building housing the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration, located on Rua de São Mamede in Lisbon, was the target of an “intrusion” in the early hours of August 28, resulting in the theft of “some computers.” But what exactly happened?
According to Margarida Blasco’s department, this “intrusion was only possible by climbing a neighboring building that is currently under renovation.”
“The time at which the events occurred and the scaffolding coverage likely facilitated its improper use for this purpose,” the organization stated in a press release sent on Thursday.
The Ministry also confirmed that “some computers were stolen, some of which had not yet been used as they were reserve/replacement units.”
According to O Observador, the break-in occurred around 5:00 AM on Wednesday, but the alert was only given hours later to the Public Security Police (PSP) agent on permanent duty at the General Secretariat when employees arrived and noticed that “several offices were in disarray and showed signs of having been rummaged through.”
There’s more: according to the same newspaper, the security guard at the entrance “apparently did not notice anything,” and the theft was not recorded by security cameras, which “are out of order.”
One of the eight stolen computers belonged to Teresa Costa, Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Internal Administration.
A PSP source confirmed to Lusa that the break-in alert was given at 9:52 AM on Wednesday by the police officer on duty in the building after noticing that offices had been ransacked. Another police source indicated that various computer equipment from the offices was stolen.
The Ministry, in turn, assured that “the situation is being monitored by the competent criminal investigation entities,” and justified that it is “not appropriate to disclose any other data or facts, as this could hinder the ongoing investigation, awaiting its conclusion.”
