Syux’s cocaine trafficking trial begins today

The trial of Ruben Oliveira (“Chuxas”) and the other 18 accused of cocaine trafficking, criminal association and money laundering begins on Tuesday in Lisbon in a case involving links to drug trafficking organizations in Brazil and Colombia.

The trial is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at Lisbon’s Central Criminal Court, with a panel of judges already scheduled for a series of hearings, the second of which is scheduled for Wednesday.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment, the criminal group led by Ruben Oliveira had “close ties” to drug trafficking organizations in Brazil and Colombia and imported large quantities of cocaine from South America since mid-2019.

The organization headed by “Chushas” had – also according to the indictment – branches in various logistics structures of Portugal, namely near the seaports of Setúbal and Leixões and at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon, which allowed it to use its influence to import large quantities of cocaine that evaded inspection .

At these landing sites, the PS seized cocaine from the accused who were allegedly following the orders of Ruben Oliveira. Cocaine was brought into Portugal through companies importing fruit and other food and non-food products using shipping containers. The drug also ended up in travel bags flying from Brazil to Portugal.

The indictment also states that the defendants used “encrypted systems commonly used by the world’s largest criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and violent crime” to communicate with each other.

Shuxas, identified by investigators as one of Portugal’s largest drug traffickers, has been in pre-trial detention at the Monsanto maximum security prison since late June 2022.

Criminal Judge Carlos Alexandre sent the defendants (16 people and three companies) to court in an order dated September 29, which largely confirmed the deputy’s accusations.