Two men, aged 55 and 65, suspected of belonging to the drug trafficking network that operated in the Algarve and Andalusia, were arrested in Quarteira, the Southern Directorate of the Judiciary Police revealed this Tuesday in a statement. The “head” of the organization, based in Andalusia, was also arrested, but in Spain.
The arrests were made as part of "a complex investigation that began in 2019, targeting a group made up of individuals of different nationalities who worked in the Algarve and Andalusia region".
This investigation, due to its “transnationality”, also involved the Guardia Civil and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Kingdom of Spain.
The PJ explains that due to the "strong indictment", arrest warrants and house search warrants were issued by the judicial authorities in Quarteira, and a European arrest warrant was also issued in the name of the "alleged leader of the organization", who was detained by the Spanish authorities and must be extradited to Portugal, following the “legal procedures of the European detention mechanism”.
In addition to these three arrests, another five defendants are involved in this network, who are in preventive detention.
As part of this investigation, the PJ emphasizes, two fishing boats, «several vehicles, and 137 bales of hashish, totaling about 5 tons, had already been seized.
The detainees will be present at the Court in Faro, for the application of coercive measures.
The investigation is still continuing, under the responsibility of the Judiciary Police, and, according to this security force, there are signs that point to a relationship between this network and «other phenomena of the same type in the national territory».
The direction of the inquiries is in charge of the II section of the DIAP in Faro.
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