Two Brazilians caught with 285 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a container of mangoes were sentenced to effective prison terms in the Santarém court for drug trafficking offences. One of the defendants, the owner of a company in Almada that imported cargo from Brazil, was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. An accomplice, a specialist welder whose job was to open the bottom of the container to remove the drugs, was sentenced to six years and three months.
The panel of judges also ordered the defendants to be expelled from the country after serving part of their sentences, since they were not in a legal situation in Portugal.
The traders were caught red-handed in a warehouse near Ourem in January 2023 as part of an Iberian operation involving Portuguese and Spanish authorities. While inspecting a container in the seaport of Algeciras in Spain, the Civil Guard discovered 260 parcels with a market value of more than seven million euros hidden under a metal floor.
Author: João Nuno Pepino
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.