An international operation to combat drug trafficking in 11 countries has resulted in the arrest of 50 suspects, two of whom live in the Azores and one in the Lisbon region, the Judicial Police (PJ) said on Friday.
Operation Mentor was launched simultaneously in 11 countries, arresting 50 suspects and conducting 47 house searches, with the SP saying in a statement that it had succeeded in “dismantling a criminal organisation with links to the Balkan region”.
This international operation to combat drug trafficking “by sea using pleasure boats” was led by the police authorities of Spain (National Police) and Norway, with the PS participating through the National Drug Trafficking Unit and the Azores Criminal Investigation Department.
On national territory, according to the SP, three men were arrested: two foreign nationals residing in the Azores, aged 55 and 37, and a Portuguese man in the Lisbon region, aged 42, in accordance with European arrest warrants issued by the Spanish authorities.
The investigation was supported by Europol, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the UK National Crime Agency.
According to the statement of the SP, the three people detained in the country were present at the Lisbon Court of Appeal, which “decided to maintain the detention” of the accused, who live in the Azores, and “applied the coercive measure of periodic representations to the accused detained in Lisbon.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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