The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested three Portuguese citizens and a foreigner at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon on suspicion of drug trafficking and seized more than 500,000 doses of cocaine, the criminal police agency revealed today.
In a statement sent to the media, the PJ explains that operation “Deep Cleaning – Take VII” took place “in the last few days”, following an investigation by the National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking (UNCTE) – with the support of the PSP’s Airport Security Division – and that the investigation is being conducted by the Lisbon Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP).
According to the PJ, three of the suspects arrested were “employees of companies providing services” at Lisbon airport and had the task of “removing the drugs directly from the hold of the planes as soon as they arrived, thus avoiding inspection by the authorities”.
The cocaine seized came from Africa and amounted to around 552,000 individual doses. The authorities also seized a car, cell phones, documents and a weapon of a caliber reserved for police forces.
The investigation is targeting the activities of criminal groups linked to the introduction of drugs into Portuguese territory via regular air transportation.
The four men are “strongly indicted” for the crime of illicit drug trafficking and were remanded in custody after the first judicial interrogation.