Five inmates, including three Portuguese and two foreigners, escaped today from the Vale de Judeus Prison Establishment in Lisbon.
The Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP) reported that the situation occurred around 10 am, also explaining how the escape happened.
A preliminary assessment, through video surveillance footage, indicates that the five men allegedly escaped “with external help through the launching of a ladder, which allowed the inmates to climb the wall and access the outside,” according to the DGRSP.
“As per protocol, communications were immediately made to the criminal policy bodies to recapture the escapees,” the statement adds.
Frederico Morais, president of the National Union of Prison Guards, stated that the situation is putting authorities on alert, also mobilizing professionals who are off duty. According to the same source, one of the escaped inmates is known to authorities as the ‘Terror of Algarve’, a region where he allegedly committed various crimes, including drug trafficking and robberies.
The escapees are two Portuguese citizens, Fernando Ribeiro Ferreira and Fábio Fernandes Santos Loureiro, a Georgian citizen, Shergili Farjiani, an Argentine, Rodolf José Lohrmann, and a British citizen, Mark Cameron Roscaleer, aged between 33 and 61 years old.
Sentenced to prison terms between 7 and 25 years, their crimes include drug trafficking, criminal association, robbery, kidnapping, and money laundering.
According to the DGRSP, an internal inquiry process has already been opened, led by the Audit and Inspection Service, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.