This Friday, the Feira court sentenced 17 of 21 defendants in drug trafficking cases in several municipalities of the districts of Aveiro and Porto, but only seven received effective sentences.
During the announcement of the ruling, the presiding judge stated that “almost most of the facts” set out in the prosecutor’s indictment have been proven.
The judge also emphasized the degree of illegality of the defendants’ actions, considering that the drug trade “sells death.”
The defendants, 20 men and one woman aged between 25 and 59, are accused of crimes related to drug trafficking and petty trafficking. Four of them were also charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, and one of them was also guilty of 13 offenses of driving without a valid licence.
Of the 17 sentenced to prison, 10 had their sentences suspended subject to drug treatment.
Effective sentences, ranging from five years and seven months to nine and a half years’ imprisonment, were imposed on the seven defendants currently in pre-trial detention.
The remaining four defendants were acquitted because they were drug addicts who purchased drugs only for their own use.
Several defendants were also ordered to pay the state a total amount of approximately 60 thousand euros, which corresponds to the financial benefits received from criminal activities.
This process was the result of an investigation carried out by the GNR for approximately one and a half years, which resulted in the arrest of 20 people in a large-scale operation carried out on July 12 and 13, 2022.
At the time, the GNR said the suspects were “engaged in drug trafficking in the north of the district of Aveiro and the south of the district of Porto.”
A total of 32 house searches were carried out: 24 in vehicles and eight in establishments, garages and outbuildings in the municipalities of Santa Maria da Feira, Vale de Cambra, Ovar and Espinho, in the district of Aveiro and Santo Tirso, Matosinhos. and Vila Nova Gaia in the Porto area.
During the operation, 43,267 doses of hashish, 3,181 doses of cocaine, 316 doses of liamba, 59.2 grams of hashish oil, 126.2 grams of amphetamine, 650 brands of LSD, 55.25 grams of MDMA and 24 ecstasy tablets were seized.
More than 14 thousand euros in cash, various cutting and packaging materials, 13 vehicles and two weapons were also seized.
After attending the first judicial interrogation, the seven accused were remanded in custody.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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