The GNR tax department and the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) seized about eight tons of octopus in the Algarve last Thursday and dismantled the illegal fish trade network, as announced on Monday.
The confiscation was the result of an investigation launched four years ago by Faro’s tax action department to combat falsification and forgery of documents, smuggling, fraud and breach of financial trust, the National Republican Guard said in a statement.
In the operation, dubbed Octopoda, authorities conducted a total of 22 searches at locations used as facilities for storing and shipping fresh fish “illegally acquired known as auction skipping, non-compliance with regulations on the sale of fish products, and fish aquaculture products,” – the note says.
According to the GNR, the investigation found that the five male defendants, aged between 40 and 55, claimed between 2020 and 2023 to “purchase fish within and outside the country without any record of purchase or declaration at customs in Faro.
The fish was “purchased directly from the fishermen, bypassing the legal commercial turnover, which has brought about five million euros over the past three years,” the law enforcement agencies calculated.
“In accordance with the Legal Regime of Economic Offenses, several violations were identified due to the lack of evidence of the origin and traceability of fish, while eight thousand kilograms of octopuses, with an estimated value of 80 thousand euros, were seized by the ASAE, which prepared the relevant materials on an administrative offense,” the statement said. GNR.
During the operation, 83,885 euros, three vehicles, communications equipment and various documentation were also seized.
According to the authorities, the activities of the defendants between 2020 and 2021 could have caused damage to the state by approximately 172,716 euros in terms of customs tax.
The operation involved 50 GNR soldiers, three dog handlers and employees of the financial service and ASAE in Faro, the case was referred to the court of Faro.
The GNR says that every year the criminal practice of tax fraud and smuggling causes significant damage to the Portuguese economy, as does the illegal trade of fish outside the marketing rules.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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