The Porto Regional Prosecutor’s Office announced that on August 23, the Public Ministry charged nine defendants — a business entity and eight individuals — with crimes including aggravated drug trafficking, criminal associations, money laundering, document forgery, and driving without a legal license.
The charges relate to activities surrounding the operation of a laboratory in Santa Maria da Feira in 2024, where the defendants allegedly transformed cocaine paste imported from South America, primarily by sea, into cocaine for sale, particularly in European countries.
The Prosecutor’s Office noted that three of the defendants led the operation. Two managed the import and final distribution, while the third was responsible for logistics, such as renting the laboratory premises and hiring others to assist in the cocaine transformation process.
Some hired defendants also undertook external roles, including transportation or mediating cocaine sale deals.
Investigators revealed that the laboratory’s activities mostly occurred at night, producing over 140 kilograms of cocaine, with a consumer value exceeding 2.8 million euros.
Importing cocaine base paste was a new method in Europe, effectively evading cross-border authorities’ detection, including X-rays and sniffer dogs.
More than 14 kilograms of cocaine were seized, equivalent to 67,695 individual doses.
The logistics manager is also charged with using false identification documents, such as a non-existent Croatian ID card and a fake driver’s license, to navigate public roads, rent vehicles, lease the laboratory site, establish the indicted company, open bank accounts, hire the other defendants, and register them with Social Security.
Two defendants are charged with laundering criminal proceeds by investing in gym installation and equipment, acquiring property, and dissipating funds through bank accounts.
The Public Ministry has requested the forfeiture of gains from the criminal activities.
Four defendants remain in preventive custody as the legal proceedings continue.
