Month: August 2017

The GNR dismantled a cannabis greenhouse in Murtosa and arrested a couple on suspicion of drug trafficking, the security force said on Friday.

According to a statement from the GNR, the men and women, aged 37 and 21, respectively, were detained last Thursday.

The action involved a search of the suspects’ home that during which they found and seized 1,108 doses of hashish, 29 cannabis plants of 2.5 meters and 867 cannabis seeds.

Two precision scales, a greenhouse, a shotgun, 32 caliber cartridges, two cars, several monitors and televisions, and 4,360 euros in cash were also seized

After the first judicial interrogation, the detainees, aged 59 and 64, were remanded in custody

The Judiciary Police have detained two men who manufactured counterfeit bank notes of 20 euros, in the Greater Lisbon area.

In a statement, PJ said that the counterfeit mill had been dismantled and the equipment used in the counterfeiting process had been seized, namely a hot stamping machine, a mould used in the stamping machine, a paper cutter, and a printer.

“The € 20 banknotes, some of which were seized in the manufacturing process, were suitable for misleading anyone, and more than two hundred were already in circulation,” the note said.

After the first judicial interrogation, the detainees, aged 59 and 64, were remanded in custody

On Monday evening, a correctional court in Meaux, France, found a 32-year-old man guilty of advocating terrorism after he liked a piece of ISIS propaganda on Facebook.

According to a report by Le Parisien, the post in question included a disturbing photo of an ISIS fighter decapitating a woman by hand. After the man liked it, the gruesome image started appearing in his friends’ Facebook feeds, which prompted one of them to inform the police of his actions.

The officers quickly decided that the like constituted more than enough evidence to search the man’s home under suspicions of terrorism. Once inside, the police found nothing strictly ISIS-related, but they did recover a variety of airsoft guns and a decent number of pot plants. For these, the man merely received a fine, but the Facebook like still warranted further investigation.

At his trial, the man said that he was merely trying to provoke his relatives by liking the most obscene things he could find. He argued that the propaganda photo was part of a series of disturbing images he had liked that included violence against animals and humans. Somehow, this explanation didn’t win over the members of the court, and he was given a three-month suspended prison sentence.

 

 

The strike by SEF inspectors scheduled for 24^th and 25^th August will not now take place the president of the SEF Research and Inspection Career Union announced today.

Decision was made after a meeting with the Minister of Internal Administration

The announcement was made by Acácio Pereira, after a meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI). “The conditions are met so we can stop the strike,” he told reporters.

In a statement, the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Constança Urbano de Sousa, said that at the meeting “it was possible to reach a consensus regarding the positions of the Government and that Union”. One of the measures that contributed to this outcome was the authorization by the Ministry of Finance for the “external recruitment of 100 new inspectors, which adds to the internal competition that has already enabled this year to provide the SEF with 45 new inspectors.”

These competitions are joined by two others, each of 45 elements, with which the SEF will see its staff of the CIF strengthened in 235 new inspectors, the statement said. In these two cases, those of the first contest are already effective and those of the second are as trainees at the airport.

The ANA had already warned over the consequences of the strike at airports, advising passengers on flights out of the European space arriving in advance of four hours to minimize inconvenience.

The strike would have resulted in delays at Portugal’s main airports affecting flights to many destinations.

 

 

Spanish police agents have seized 65 kilograms of the narcotic and have dismantled the organization responsible for trafficking

Eleven people have been arrested in the province of Pontevedra, including the main person in charge, five Spanish, five Bulgarian and a man of Portuguese nationality

They used the Galician distribution channels for the subsequent transfer of the drug to the rest of Spain and to Portugal from Bulgaria

On 23^rd August agents of the National Police and officials of the Tax Agency, in a joint investigation, have dismantled in Pontevedra an organization dedicated to the trafficking of heroin and have seized 65 kilograms of the narcotic drug. It is the largest amount of heroin seized in Spain in recent years. There are eleven detainees, including the main person in charge, five Spanish people, five Bulgarians and a man of Portuguese nationality.

The investigation began in 2016, when agents detected that a Spanish-Bulgarian criminal group would be trying to introduce in Spain a large quantity of narcotic substances from South America. On this occasion the group, composed of the eleven individuals arrested, attempted to transfer large quantities of heroin to Spain from Bulgaria. To do this, they used the Galician distribution channels and then transported the drug for the rest of our country and Portugal.

The Spanish members, along with another of Portuguese nationality, were in charge of the collection of the heroine and its subsequent delivery, also carrying out logistic tasks such as the rental of real estate for the concealment of narcotics and vans for the transfer of the drug, get the necessary tools for their illegal activity, etc.

They had chosen an industrial warehouse located in the Pontevedra village of Caldas de Reis to hide a truck type trailer, inside which hid the heroine. They intended to move the drug to another van and then take it to a safer place outside the ship.

As for Bulgarian nationals, two of them were responsible for driving the truck carrying the narcotics, while the other three gave security in the transport operation. In this way, the organization took important surveillance measures to avoid being detected, both in their travels and in their communications.

The operation has resulted in the arrest of eleven members of the organization and the registration of the ship used in the province of Pontevedra, where agents have seized 118 packets with 64 kilograms of heroin, 60,000 euros in cash, 15 Mobile phones and four vehicles, among which is the trailer-type truck in which they hid the drug.

The judicial authority has decreed the imprisonment of all those arrested.

 

 

The most violent typhoon of the past 18 years in Macau has caused at least five dead and 153 wounded on Wednesday 23^rd August, leaving a trail of destruction to buildings and communication in the city.

The Portuguese consul in Macau and Hong Kong, Vitor Sereno, told Lusa that “none of those who died are Portuguese citizens,” and added that he did not know until now the existence of Portuguese among the wounded.

Most of the city remained without electricity at 21.30 (14:30 hrs in Lisbon), which led the Conde de São Januário Hospital Center, the only public hospital in Macao, to use the “backup generator” for the supply of Emergency lighting and electricity, thus ensuring basic services. ”

At 09:00 hrs (14.00 hrs. in Lisbon), the Meteorological and Geophysical Services of Macau issued the signal 8 of tropical storm, when the Hato was about 110 kms southeast of Macau, heading for the west coast of the province of Guangdong, China.

For the first time ever since the beginning of the year, Tropical Storm Sign 8 in Macao has been hoisted, forcing schools, public services and transportation to stop. The connections between the Macao peninsula and the island of Taipa, the air and sea services between the territory and the outside were suspended and the borders closed.

At 11:30 am (04:30 hrs), Tropical Storm Sign 10, the maximum of the scale, was hoisted, which had not happened since 1999. At that time, Typhoon Hato was about 50 kms southeast of Macau. The typhoon’s intensity caused a power outage that partially affected communications services, which have not yet been restored. At 19.00 hrs, the Macau Civil Protection Operations Center (COPC) announced the reopening of the bridges linking the city to Taipa and the resumption of sea and air links.

In the same message, the COPC reported that the damaged facilities at the Outer Harbour and Pac On maritime terminal in Taipa had not yet been reopened.

By 17:50 (10:50), COPC had recorded 207 incidents. The Inner Harbour and Green Island areas have experienced flooding, added the COPC.

The storm signals were all disabled by 9:30 p.m. (14:30 p.m.), according to the Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau.

A helicopter fighting a fire in Castro Daire, Viseu, fell shortly before 13:00 hrs today Sunday 20th August, killing the pilot, Américo Sousa, aged 51 years.

The helicopter crashed into high-voltage cables, crashed and burned, and the pilot was trapped in the helicopter, according to a source at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI).

The helicopter was based at the Air Media Center in Armamar, Viseu. The Eurocopter AS350 Ecureuil belonging to Everjets is a single-pilot single-pilot helicopter with a maximum capacity of 5 people.

Up until 2nd August 2017, the GNR had investigated the causes of 8122 fires, concluding that 40% of the occurrences, that is, 3320 fires, had negligent causes.

Then there were 1374 fires that were caused with intent, 17% of the total.

There were 699 fires, 9% of the total that originated from re-ignitions and only 82, only 1%, which arose from natural causes.

It should be noted that some 2647 or 33% of fires had an unknown cause

The truth is that in 85% of cases the fires were caused by human intervention “, highlights Major Ricardo Alves of the GNR Nature and Environmental Protection Service (SEPNA).  As for the fires caused by re-ignitions, they show “that post-fire surveillance did not work.”

According to the National Commander of Civil Protection, Rui Esteves, on Wednesday, 38% of last week’s incidents occurred “at night”, meaning they had a “criminal hand.”

This year, the GNR has identified 700 individuals as potential arsonists in the country’s villages and rural areas. They are referenced in the system. “Of the 62 detained that the Judiciary Police did this year for the crime of forest fire, about 40 were suspects that the GNR had already identified.” The GNR can only detain suspects of the forest fire crime if caught in the act: it has already stopped 32 (29 men and three women).

There are now 94 detained by the two criminal investigation bodies, a “record” reported last week by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Constança Urbano de Sousa. Of the 62 arrested by the PJ this year, 26 were remanded in custody. Source Diarios de Noticais

Our condolences go to the families of at least 14 people who were killed in a terrorist attack in Las Ramblas, Barcelona yesterday. In addition around 130 were injured in the attack, involving a van driving into pedestrians along a crowded street.

The Catalan regional government has now said that citizens from 34 countries were among the people killed and injured. Three of the dead are believed to be German and one Belgium and a 70 year old woman from Portugal. France says 26 of its citizens are injured, at least 11 of them seriously; four Australians were wounded: two women remain in hospital in a serious but stable condition, while two men were treated and released. Three people from the Netherlands are among the wounded, along with a woman and her two children from Greece. A Hong Kong citizen suffered minor injuries, as did one American.

A second terror attack has taken place in Cambrils, a coastal town around 120 kms from Barcelona. Six bystanders and one police officer were injured – two seriously – when they were reportedly deliberately hit by a car – an Audi A3. Police officers then shot dead five suspects, some of whom were wearing what appeared to be explosive belts.

Authorities say the attack is linked to the Barcelona attack earlier on Thursday.

Two suspects whom police believe to be linked to the Barcelona attack are in custody, although neither is the driver, who escaped. A manhunt for him continues. At 07.30 this morning a third suspect was detained in Ripoll, about 96 kms north of Barcelona,

Officials are also linking the two attacks to an earlier explosion that destroyed a house in Alcanar, killing one person and wounding at least one more. Police now say they believe explosives were being prepared at the property.

Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack in Las Ramblas, but this could not be verified.

A vacation in Madeira ended in a tragic way for a family in Santana, early this Sunday morning, 13th August 2017. For reasons not yet entirely clear, a 50-year-old man, aimed a firearm at the head of his mother, sister and father, and fired at point-blank range when the victims were already in bed. The first two, aged 73 and 51 years, died immediately, the third, 78 years old, is in a very serious condition and under a reserved prognosis in the intensive care unit of the Funchal Hospital.

According to the DN, the house where the crime occurred, at Colmo’s site (Santana) around midnight on Sunday, belongs to the suspect’s parents, emigrants in France and who were vacationing in their homeland. With them were also the 51-year-old sister and the suspect’s nephew, who were residents of the Algarve and who joined their relatives in a reunion in Madeira that was intended to be a reliever but which turned out to be quite a conflict.

Reports are that on Saturday night the suspect and his sister disagreed. The parents will have taken the part of the daughter, defending their arguments, leaving the suspect quite angry.

According to a source close to his family, his nephew and brother persuaded him to go and have a drink at the ‘Contradictions’ bar, to stir up their spirits and then proceed to the camp in the parish of São Jorge.

The two women’s deaths were confirmed on the spot. The 78-year-old man was assisted by EMIR and evacuated to the Dr. Nélio Mendonça hospital, being hospitalized under a rather reserved prognosis.

The son and brother of the victims is suspected of having committed the crime in a frame of revenge.