Year: 2015

It was reported on 19th September that the Judicial Police had arrested a 42 year old man for causing three fires in forest areas between 10th – 12th September 2015. This resulted in the destruction of bushes and pine trees covering an area of 43,000 square meters in the district of Viseu.

The man started the fires by lighting candles with a cigarette lighter and then informed villagers who in turn informed the GNR. His aim was to watch the emergency response units dealing with the fires!

So far this year the Judicial Police have identified 49 people responsible for illegally starting fires.

 

 

It was reported on 20th September that a PSP Agent was stabbed by a pickpocket at the Rua Nova da Trinidade, Lisbon whilst the agent, who was on patrol, was attempting to intercept him.

The assailant is Romanian and aged 29 years.  The PSP agent received medical attention by INEM suffering a cut to his elbow. The pickpocket was eventually subdued and was found to be in possession of two wallets belonging to a French and American tourists. He was arrested for resisting arrest and assault.

 

On 19th September the Food Safety and Economic Authority (ASAE) announced the seizure of nine tons of meat and fish frozen during a national enforcement action involving the inspection of 1325 vehicles.

“Operation Circle”, was held on Friday and aimed to “check the freight conditions in vehicles (food and non-food) along the main access roads to major urban centers, industrial and markets suppliers, “said the ASAE in a statement.

According to ASAE, authorities they found lack of hygiene irregularities in transport, concerning the climate control, product labelling and documentation of the goods.

During the action, developed in collaboration with the PSP and GNR over 1500 tons of various products (meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, bakery and pastry products, beverages, textiles and footwear, construction products between others) were inspected.

Following the inspection, the ASAE seized about nine tons of  fresh meat, frozen meat products and frozen fish products and filed 17 administrative offences for infractions.

The main offences detected were “the failure of the general and specific requirements of hygiene, lack of vehicle conditions for the transport of food and the lack of metrological control of temperature recording equipment,” said ASAE.

The operation took place in about 50 locations in the districts of Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Viana do Castelo, Mirandela, Coimbra, Viseu, Aveiro, Leiria, Castelo Branco, Guarda, Santarém, Évora, Beja, Faro and Albufeira.

During the surveillance operation ASAE also initiated a criminal proceeding for contempt, as they detected goods from an unauthorized warehouse (prior surveillance target of ASAE).  In addition, the vehicle did not have cold conditions for transportation of food products .

On 18^th September the GNR discovered an arsenal with nearly a hundred guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition and other materials during a house search, which took place in the village of Carrazeda de Ansiães in Bragança district.

The finding, in Pinhal locality of the Douro, “surprised” the military when they conducted the search warrants as ordered by a court into an investigation of the 79 year old owner. The individual is being investigated on suspicion of threatening people with a firearm and assaulting neighbours and domestic violence against his wife.

Despite the investigation for the crime of domestic violence, the couple continues to live together, and the man is not subject to any measure of coercion. The GNR seized almost a hundred guns, including hunting weapons, pistols, guns and air rifles. There also seized about five thousand ammunition of various calibres, five knives, various materials for reloading cartridges, gunpowder and other items.

According to the GNR, the individual has no professional activity related to arms. The authorities are also trying to ascertain for what purpose the suspect had in his possession such a large number of weapons.

Six of the 23 defendants arrested by the GNR of Aveiro on 14th and 15th September suspected of belonging to a drug trafficking network have been placed under detention by order of a court. The first judicial interrogation of the detainees began in Wednesday, the Criminal Chamber of Aveiro, and ended this Friday 18th September at around 21:00.

The criminal instruction judge ordered the arrest and detention for six men. The remaining defendants are subject to periodic visits to the police. The suspects are charged with conspiracy crimes, drug trafficking and possession of a prohibited weapon.

The arrests occurred during house searches carried out as part of an investigation which took place over the last few months. During the operation, 3,292 individual doses of hashish, 554 individual doses of cocaine as well as” significant quantities” of hashish pollen, cannabis, MDMA and ‘speed’ were seized. The GNR also seized large amounts of cash, mobile phones, several motor vehicles and a firearm.

The Judicial Police has issued a warning of the significant increase in complaints of invasion of privacy and extortion associated with the use of social networking sites.

These situations, which the police term as “Sextortion”, occur when users, adults or minors, use a social network to share intimate photos or videos of themselves including sexual activities with others. In doing so, the senders subsequently become victims of extortion, through demands of large amounts of money to avoid their pictures or videos being further exposed to others.

Victims pay 100, 200, 500 euros, so that images are not released to their friends and family. Criminals are hidden in fake social networking profiles in accounts registered abroad. A crime that is increasing in Portugal.

The Judicial Police, have issued an appeal stating that “In the last three to four months there was a significant increase in cases. In Lisbon alone there were 50 new complaints. We are investigating, but it is not a crime easy to unravel”, Carlos Goatherd, coordinator of the section of computer crimes of the Judicial Police told the Correio da Manha.

The victims – including men and some minors – turn out to be hostage to ‘Sextortion’ name (which joins sex with extortion) given to phenomenon. It’s just that if they decide to pay, the chances are the victim is asked for more money.

“It all starts on social networks, where it gains the trust of the victims. After end up making a video link in less own situations. These images are then used in blackmail,” said the head of the PJ, which is said concerned about the phenomenon. “It’s a crime not only originating in Portugal but also from abroad. Therefore, international cooperation is very important. It is a crime with many features and that often comes from countries where cooperation is very limited”.

This type of transnational crime has an erosive effect on public confidence in the INTERNET network structures and is highly devastating in terms of psychological effects on the victims. The Judicial Police warning and calls for:

• Steps to prohibit the use of social networks involving the intimate and sexual exposure of its users;
• Greater awareness of the effects such activities may have on personal and professional life as well as the effects in terms of extortion and humiliation;
• The use of these new forms of communication have minimum age for use and that minors should be advised of the consequences of their misuse.

The Judicial Police is continuing its research in order to ascertain the nature and extent of criminal connections concerning these activities.

 

It was reported on 10th September that the Judicial Police, through the National Unit for the Fight against Drug Trafficking (UNCTE), in close coordination with the National Cuerpo Police in Spain, have conducted a joint investigation that led to the location and interception of a fishing boat north of the islands of Farizhoes in Portuguese territory, carrying 1.9 tons cocaine to a Galician criminal organization.

The location and interception of the vessel was undertaken with the support of Air Force and the Portuguese Navy. During the operation five crew members were arrested including four nationals and a foreigner. The drugs are estimated to have a value of around $64 milliion.

Following this intervention of the Judicial Police, the Spanish authorities conducted a police operation in Galicia, Asturias and Madrid, and detained ten men belonging to the above mentioned criminal organization. During the operation eleven searches were conducted and the fishing boat carrying cocaine, a speedboat, about seventy thousand euros in cash, fifty 9 mm cartridges and various telecommunications equipment were seized.

A coordinated research between the Portuguese and Spanish authorities has resulted in the allowed dismantling of one of the most important Galician criminal organizations, which had close ties to Colombian organizations dedicated to the importation of large quantities of cocaine into the Iberian Peninsula in order to supply illegal markets in Europe.

The fifteen detainees, aged between 25 and 75 years, have appeared before the relevant authority, with an application that 12 are remanded in prison custody and the other three under house arrest.

The operation took place on 20th August 2015 but has only just been reported. In the context of combating this type of transnational crime, the Judicial Police have seized in the last three months more than 5 tons of cocaine, four vessels and have detained 27 suspects, which is an important contribution in the context of the global fight against international drug trafficking.

From 1 May to 31 August, four people have died in Portugal, in accidents related to bathing, which required 387 interventions by lifeguards on guarded beaches, according to information released today the National Maritime Authority.

According to data available on the Authority’s website, three of the deaths occurred in sea areas not guarded. These three deaths occurred up to June 20, at the beach of the Red Dragon on the Costa de Caparica (Almada), and another on 26 August, at the beach of Casal Ventoso district, in Figueira da Foz.

In the first case, a 57-year-old man of British nationality was drowned and in the second case, a 60-year-oldPortuguese man drowned. The third fatality – a 40-year-old Portuguese man drowned on July 30, in the seaside resort at beach Bom Sucesso, in Peniche.

In the case of supervised river beaches under maritime jurisdiction, an incident occurred on July 8, in the river area of ​​Foz do Lizandro, Mafra where the victim was a 6 year old Portuguese boy.

According to data from the National Maritime Authority, from 01 May to 31 August, the number of interventions by lifeguards in guarded beaches, was 387. In the same period, there were 621 interventions at non guarded beaches. Some 498 people received first aid. There were also 56 searches for lost children on beaches of whom all were found.

On 29^th August in the afternoon a PSP agent, a GNR officer and a young man died after being shot in Quinta do Conde, Sesimbra, Setubal sequence disagreements between neighbours. It apparently started because of an argument over the dog of one of the residents.

The PSP officer, who was working at the Prime Minister’s office as a driver, was the first to be killed. He was due to retire shortly. He was unarmed and off duty in the area of Rua Alexandre Herculano, where he also lived. According to neighbours’ accounts, the agent was next to his car when he was hit. The son, 23, was standing in the street. The assailant a 77-year-old man reportedly fired five shots from shotgun from one of the windows of the house in front of the car.

The PSP agent died immediately. The son, who accompanied him, was also hit and was seriously injured. He was attended to by INEM, but died later in the evening at St. Bernard Hospital in Setúbal.

GNR of Quinta do Conde, prompted by successive telephone calls from residents of that area, sent a patrol. The leader of the patrol who had just reached the site, became the next victim. The GNR Guarda, aged 25, was hit in the head by a shot, whilst his back was turned to the gunman trying to rescue the son of PSP officer.

After the shooting, the suspect, described by neighbours as a civil builder, barricaded himself in a room. “We had to resort to tactical police officers procedures to surround the house and after a while we decided to go in and the suspect was arrested”, explained Lt. Col. Jorge Goulão of the GNR. When they entered the house, the military realized that the man had tried to commit suicide. It has fired him own shotgun.

The suspect was also attended by INEM and transported by ambulance to the Hospital of St. Bernard, in Setúbal, where he remains hospitalized.

Minister of Internal Affairs regrets deaths
Minister of Internal Affairs expressed with deep regrets the death of two members of the security forces.

In a statement, Anabela Miranda Rodrigues sent “heartfelt condolences” to the families of victims, “and the entire staff of the GNR and PSP,” also mourning the death of a third person in the same incident.

With parents working during the day, often it is grandparents that look after children until they enter kindergarten. Even with close monitoring, accidents do occur and, often the elderly are not able to respond to accidents such as falling, drowning, choking, suffocation or asphyxiation among their grandchildren. “In an accident with their grandchildren, grandparents should not act without thinking and on impulse, as this an cause other accidents or increase the severity of injuries, “Helena Botte, Secretary General of APSI, told the Correio da Manha newspaper.

Among the most frequent accidents, not only involving children, are the falls that cause more victims, many of them who died as a result.

The Central Administration Data Health System (ACSS) indicate that in 2006-2010, there were 32 925 accidents reported among children, of whom 17,991 were from falls, 11,014 from traffic accidents and 1830 by poisoning.  Other cases were suffocation or strangulation concerning 1,230 children, burns 670, and there were 190 drownings.

The largest number of deaths occurred in traffic accidents. During that period there were 427 deaths from 0 to 19, and 198 deaths were due to other accidents: drowning (75 deaths), other causes (69), suffocation (28) and falls (26) – totaling 625 deaths.