GNR reported the case of the minors, the youngest of whom was four years old, to the Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People, as it understood that they were exposed to a risky situation by attending such events.
Fourteen people aged between 21 and 34 have been charged with dangerous driving in Matosinhos, Porto district, GNR said on Saturday of an operation in which dozens of vehicles were seized.
A police criminal investigation and road check operation resulted in more than 200 vehicles being checked.
According to the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, during the investigations, two people were arrested for driving without a license and for falsifying technical records, 14 people were charged with dangerous driving, and 37 administrative violation reports were drawn up.
In total, 23 vehicles subject to unscheduled inspection were confiscated due to changes in characteristics, 14 administrative violations were recorded related to the lack of civil liability insurance, the lack of mandatory periodic technical inspection, tires, and others.
The operation was carried out by the Porto Territorial Command through the Road Accident Investigation Unit (NICAV) of the Porto Roads Department in the early morning hours of Friday to Saturday.
The defendants are between 21 and 34 years old.
The action took place in Leça da Palmeira, in the municipality of Matosinhos, “a place where the practice of this type of behavior has been checked and controlled, as it puts at risk road safety, including the perpetrators of this practice, as well as the people who attend the same,” the statement said.
In the note, the GNR takes the opportunity to point out that “it is attentive to the growing phenomenon commonly known as ‘street racing’ due to the social anxiety and serious consequences of these dangerous events, as well as the fact that they represent criminal acts that are becoming increasingly organised, whether they are of a criminal or administrative nature.”
The action was reinforced by troops from the Penafiel Road Squad, the Intervention Squad, the Felgueiras, Penafiel and Matosinhos Territorial Squads, the National Transport Unit (UNT) and the Public Order Intervention Group (GIOP), the Intervention Unit (UI).