The mock debate on the Shuksas trial was suspended due to the absence of the accused

According to defense sources, two of the accused, who are being held in a Lisbon prison, were not present due to disruptions in prison services. The judge suspended the mock debate session, which will resume at 13:30.

The investigative phase of the trial, the main defendant Rubén Oliveira, who was in pretrial detention and until recently considered the largest cocaine trafficker in Portugal, began on 14 June. The hearing lasted less than an hour and at which some of the accused chose to testify. .

According to the deputy’s indictment, the criminal group, led by Ruben Oliveira, had “close ties” with drug traffickers in Brazil and Colombia, and since mid-2019 has been importing large quantities of cocaine from South America.

The organization, led by Shuksas, had ties to Sergio Carvalho, a drug dealer known as the “Brazilian Escobar” and responsible for exporting tons of cocaine to Europe.

According to a source connected with the trial, Gurvinder Singh is incriminating Ruben Oliveira. According to the indictment, the Shusas organization had ramifications in various logistics structures in Portugal, namely in the seaports of Setúbal and Leixões, at the Humberto Delgado airport in Lisbon, in the Mercado Abastesedor da Regian de Lisboa (MARL) market and others, thus allowing the import large volumes of drugs without the supervision of the authorities.

The cocaine was brought into Portugal through companies importing fruits and other food and non-food products using shipping containers. The drug also entered the country in suitcases by plane from Brazil to Portugal.

This trial, which involves 21 defendants (18 people and three companies), deals with crimes related to aggravated drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering and possession of illegal weapons.