The Judicial Police seized 78 kg of drugs in the Azores in the first six months of the year, mostly hashish, but also cocaine, heroin and synthetics, equivalent to 90% of the 2022 total, the regional coordinator said.
“In 2022, there was a very significant increase in seizures: 60% more than in 2021. In the first half of this year, we have already seized an amount equivalent to 90% of last year’s amount,” said the coordinator of the Judicial Police. (PJ) in the Azores, Renato Furtado, in an interview with Lusa.
According to the official, in 2022, the security forces seized more than 88 kilograms of drugs in the region, which is enough for more than 216,000 doses.
These substances were delivered to the Azores “by air, by mail and by sea, in case of importation of goods”, where the drug product may be hidden, and “through drug couriers by air”.
The coordinator reported that “seizures of hashish”, the narcotic substance “most sought after and consumed” in the Azores, as well as nationally and internationally, prevail.
Over the past three years, a “set of more than 53,000 doses of synthetic substances for consumption” in the region and imported has been seized.
A very significant amount of methamphetamine was also seized in 2023, about 20,000 doses, “a super-strong synthetic drug that is also sold in the region.”
The official said that since 2019, there has been an increase in the level of seizures of these substances, especially methamphetamines, which are even produced in the region, albeit on a “small scale”, in small laboratories located in homes.
Consumers turn to these new psychoactive substances (NPS) because they are “easy to buy” online and prices are “lower than regular drugs”, but they can have similar effects.
According to Renato Furtado, the problem is “not limited to Ponta Delgada” but mostly found on Sao Miguel, the largest island of the Azores.
“There are also some pretty serious problems on the north coast of San Miguel,” he said.
However, according to the official, “there has been some increase in violent crime in recent years” starting in 2019, and “nearly half of the perpetrators of these crimes were drug users in the Azores.”
Renato Furtado emphasized that the JV in the archipelago is focused on the points of entry of drugs into the region by air and by sea.
“We know that this region is a crossroads for a large number of drugs destined for the European continent. This is also our problem, as is the import by mail,” he said.
At stake, he stressed, is a global, regional and local phenomenon: [a nível nacional] as well as in the Azores.
In addition, PSP Regional Command quartermaster Rubén Medeiros told Lusa that since 2020, this police force has seen “an increase in seized materials, in particular so-called synthetic drugs and NSPs” imported.
“We are not talking about astronomical amounts, but there is an upward trend in the amounts seized by the PSP, with a higher prevalence of consumption and petty trade on Sao Miguel Island,” he said in an interview. Lusa.
Asked about drug trafficking in some crowded areas in the city of Ponta Delgada on the island of San Miguel, the official assured that the PSP is “paying more preventive and repressive attention to these areas.”
“The phenomenon can be overcome, but there seems to be a transfer to another place. PSP closely monitors criminal dynamics, both in terms of graphs and in terms of geographic space and actions, ”he emphasized.
Rubén Medeiros acknowledged that drug use can lead to the commission of a certain type of crime, namely theft or violence.