This afternoon, the Maritime Police are carrying out a mega-operation to combat the illegal capture of shellfish in the districts of Lisbon and Setúbal, having seized 11 tons of clams so far and constituting nine defendants.
In a statement published on its website, the National Maritime Authority (AMN) says that this operation, called “King”, is taking place in the municipalities of Lisbon, Vila Franca de Xira (Lisbon district) and Palmela (Setúbal district), where the authorities are carrying out several house searches.
So far, the authorities have detected 11 tons of japonica clams and arrested nine defendants. They have also seized three transport vehicles, as well as various documents related to the crimes of commodities fraud, forgery and counterfeiting of documents.
The operation, which aims to combat criminal networks associated with the illicit capture, trade and international trafficking of the Japanese clam, is being coordinated by the Central Criminal Investigation Unit of the Maritime Police and has the collaboration of ASAE (the Food and Economic Safety Authority), PSP and the Spanish National Police.
