Porto Mayor Rui Moreira assured this Friday that the municipality will not tolerate those convicted of drug trafficking by not allowing them to live in municipal housing.
“We hope that the courts will act quickly, and here I wanted to make one thing clear: everyone convicted of human trafficking cannot live in houses belonging to the Porto City Council,” Rui Moreira assured in response to the operation. to combat drug trafficking carried out on Thursday in the Grand Port, which resulted in the seizure of 11 kg of drugs and 15 detainees, which, according to police, “dismantled one of the main drug trafficking networks in the vicinity of Pastelleira.” Nova and Pastelleira Velha.
Speaking to reporters, Rui Moreira said that social housing is “for those who need it” and that, given the amounts seized in the police operation, “these people do not need to live in houses where the rent in some cases , from 12 euros to an average of 50 euros.
“They can not. We do not want them to live in social housing,” he said, while stating that autarky is not based on “charges”, but that if the detainees are convicted, the municipality will act “in accordance”.
“If people are convicted, we will act accordingly, as we have acted in the past and will continue to act,” he said, arguing that the municipality cannot allow “the perpetuation of this phenomenon.”
“This is, in fact, what is provided for in the law, and we are going to implement it,” he said.
Asked how many people have been banned from living in public housing on a drug conviction, the mayor said it was “an extremely limited problem.”
“There are very few people,” he said, noting that “the vast majority of people living in social housing have nothing to do with it.” [tráfico de droga]”.
To journalists, Rui Moreira also expressed solidarity with the work carried out by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and the PSP in the anti-drug operation carried out on Thursday, stressing that its results confirm the “concern” of the municipality regarding drug trafficking, which, according to him, was “installed” in certain areas of the city, such as the Pastelleira Nova area.
“There are a number of concerns that demonstrate that the concerns that the Municipality of Porto has identified and that citizens are reporting to us (…) are justified,” he said, stressing that there is “a very serious public order problem” in this municipal area “.
Speaking to reporters this Friday, PSP Commissioner Sousa Pereira said that of the 11 kilograms of drugs seized during the operation, six were cocaine, three hashish and two heroin, amounting to about 62,000 individual doses.
In addition to drugs, 13 thousand euros, four cars, two mopeds and weapons were seized.
According to him, also within the framework of this action, in which 300 agents participated, the leader of one of the “main drug trafficking networks in Porto” was detained.
In addition to this leader, 14 other people with “different positions and functions” on the network, namely employees, managers and salespeople, were arrested.
He stressed that the 15 detainees, nine men and six women, aged between 24 and 65, were Portuguese citizens and some of them already had convictions for the same crimes.
Commissioner Sousa Pereira noted that, in addition to the areas of Pastelleira Nova and Pastelleira, searches were also carried out in Matosinhos, Vila Nova de Gaia, Maya and Gondomar in the Porto area.
However, out of 44 home and outdoor searches, 30 were carried out in two districts of Pastelleira.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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