A foreign woman, who traveled from Bissau accompanied by 11 children, was arrested on Saturday at Lisbon airport on suspicion of the crime of human trafficking, the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) announced today.
“The suspect was traveling accompanied by 11 children, claiming to be the mother of one of them and for which she presented to the border authorities an alien document, belonging to her real daughter, with whom she had physiognomic similarities,” SEF said in a statement.
The arrest took place on Saturday night for “strong evidence” of the crime of trafficking in human beings, aid to illegal migration and use of another person’s travel document, SEF also said, advancing that 10 children “were safely delivered to family members who were” in Portugal.
“The other minor was duly accompanied by a multidisciplinary team, especially dedicated to cases of trafficking in human beings and, subsequently, referred to a shelter home, intended for the reception of children and young people suspected of having been victims of this crime”, the statement also indicated.
According to SEF, two travel documents, boarding passes and an international travel authorization were also seized, and the detainee is expected to be presented on Monday to the judicial authority for the possible application of coercive measures.