Two of the eight arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking in the municipalities of Lisbon, Santarem, Tondela and Viseu have been detained, a GNR source told Lusa this Thursday.
The eight people who were arrested by the GNR on Tuesday as part of an investigation that has been going on for about a year were heard in the court of Viseu on Wednesday and Thursday.
According to the GNR, for the remaining suspects, one was under house arrest and five were required to report to authorities every two weeks.
Of those five, “one was also banned from contacting participants in the process and from being in places designated for drug use,” he added.
On Wednesday, a GNR statement explained that the suspects, aged between 17 and 24, “dedicated themselves to the direct sale of the drug to consumers in the municipalities of Carregal do Sal, Mortagua, Santa Comba Dao, Tondela and Viseu,” in the Viseu district.
In the latter two municipalities, the sale took place “at educational institutions,” the GNR said in a statement, adding that “it was also possible to find out that there were episodes in which there were threats to use firearms.”
The arrests were made on Tuesday by GNR Viseu Territorial Command through the Santa Comba Dao Criminal Investigation Unit after an investigation into drug trafficking, threats, theft and illegal possession of firearms.
“Following the police operation, eight arrest warrants and 18 search warrants were executed, 14 of which were in homes and four in vehicles, resulting in the confiscation of various materials and equipment,” the GNR said in a statement.
As part of this lawsuit, three men aged 17 to 24 were also involved as defendants.
The police operation was reinforced by soldiers from the GNA intervention units in Aveiro, Coimbra, Guarda, Porto and Viseu, as well as soldiers from the criminal investigation structure in Coimbra, Lisbon, Viseu and from the Criminal Investigation Department with the support of the PSP.