The 50-year-old foreign national, leader of a criminal gang with cells in Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Ukraine and Moldova, was arrested this Thursday in the municipality of Sintra by the judicial police as part of the “Three Strikes” investigation into crimes related to forgery of documents. crime, tax fraud, transnational tobacco smuggling and violation of the Schengen travel ban.
The criminal organization he led owned a warehouse in the Spanish city of Ourense, where an illegal factory operated to produce Marlboro brand cigarettes using illegal labor.
According to the authorities, since 2002, the man detained on a European arrest warrant “was already known to the Portuguese authorities under the name “Borman” as the leader of a criminal group that attracted citizens mainly from Ukraine.” and Moldova. They were brought to Portugal, where they were allegedly promised work and better living conditions. During the journey to our country, in vans, immigrants were regularly intercepted at gas stations by elements of the network, already agreed upon with the drivers and extortion throughout the trip through threats and violence, which often bore fruit.”
Immigrants newly arrived in Portugal lost access to their belongings, documents and money, leaving them at the mercy of a criminal network. Men were expected to be employed on civilian construction sites, while women were forced to work in shelters and engage in prostitution.
“Here they were forced, under threats and attacks, to pay half of their salaries under the pretext of allegedly protecting them from other mafiosi,” the statement said.
The accused had already been sentenced by the Cascais court in May 2002 to 18 years in prison for criminal association, kidnapping, extortion, possession of prohibited weapons, facilitating illegal immigration and forgery of documents. In 2018, he was also sentenced in another case to eight years in prison for falsifying documents, with an additional penalty of deportation for 10 years and a ban on entry into Portugal, which he violated.
During the operation, several forged documents, 55 thousand euros in cash and two cars were seized.
The detainee will now be taken to the competent appellate court for “further procedural proceedings.”
Author: morning Post
Source: CM Jornal
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