Year: 2017

The GNR seized goods valued at € 3.8 million in 2016 in the context of fraud and tax evasion, and also seized about 20,000 cars, which amounted to more than eight million euros.

At the ceremony marking the 106th anniversary of the Republican National Guard, the commander-in-chief of the GNR, Lieutenant General Manuel Couto, reported the most significant results of the corporation’s operational activity in 2016.

“In the tax and customs area, the GNR registered the seizure of merchandise with a value in the order of 3.8 million euros, plus about 20 thousand autos, amounting to more than eight million euros of fines imposed,” said the commander-in-chief highlighting the investigation of 6,415 cases with a value of more than 217 million euros.

Lieutenant-General Manuel Couto also reported that 1.4 million drivers were monitored by the GNR in 2016.

Last year, GNR detained more than 20,000 people and, in the field of nature and environmental protection, registered 2,077 crimes, seizing more than 18,000 cars and made 135 arrests.

The commander-in-chief of the GNR also paid tribute to the two soldiers of the GNR killed in service in 2016, in addition to highlighting all others who suffered injuries in the performance of the operational activity.

According to this security force, more than 1,000 crimes were committed against the GNR militias in 2016, resulting in two fatalities and 185 injuries.

More than four kilos of cocaine, concealed in children’s books destined for Portugal, were confiscated by the Federal Police at Guarulhos airport, in São Paulo, from a South African citizen who was about to embark on a flight to Lisbon.

The 24-year-old woman was approached by police in the passenger queue at the flight check-in bound for Lisbon and during the interview, the passenger raised suspicions and the agents finally searched the luggage.

Inside the suitcase were found 10 children’s books and 48 small metal tubes packed similarly to capacitors. As the book covers appeared to be very thick, one of the covers was pierced, pouring a white substance.

Federal experts conducted tests and confirmed that the substances found inside the books and inside the tubes corresponded to more than four kilos of cocaine.

A foreign citizen was arrested on Tuesday 9^th May and another was notified to leave the country due to irregular stay in Portugal in an operation by the Aliens and Borders Service.

According to the SEF, in Operation Fronteira Branca, which is part of the reinforcement of inspection activities during the visit of Pope Francisco to Portugal and which took place on the A22 in the Algarve, a warrant was also issued for the capture of a National citizen to provide Term of Identity and Residence.

In the same operation, which took place near Faro and had the collaboration of the GNR, 295 national and foreign citizens were identified.

80 vehicles were also monitored in this action, which aimed to detect, combat and prevent illegal immigration and use of fraudulent documentation.

Francisco is the fourth pope to visit Fatima on May 12 and 13 to canonize the little shepherds Francisco and Jacinta in the centenary of the “apparitions” in 1917.

The Pope has scheduled meetings with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on arrival, and with the Prime Minister, António Costa, on the 13th.

 

The Judicial Court of Braga has found guilty 23 defendants for drug trafficking, one of whom was sentenced to eight years in prison.

According to the PGD do Porto, the events occurred between January 2013 and October 2015 and relate to the activity of the defendants of acquisition, possession, storage, transportation and sale of narcotic product, namely hashish, cocaine and MDMA.

One of them was active in the Bonfim area, Porto, and the rest in the Braga area, indicates PGD.

Two defendants were also convicted of  possession of a prohibited weapon, two for driving without legal authorization and one for the crime of resistance and coercion of an employee.

 

The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) has charged a man with 1031 child pornography crimes committed over the internet between 2012 and 2013, the District Attorney’s Office of Lisbon said Wednesday 10^th May.

According to the PGDL, it is alleged in the case that the accused accessed between June 25, 2012 and June 6, 2013, thousands of image and video files containing sexual abuse committed against children under the age of 14, stored, ceded to third parties and posted on the internet.

The defendant is subject to an identity and residence term (IRR).

The investigation was conducted by the 2nd section of the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Lisbon, and the investigation was carried out by the Judicial Police.

 

 

 

This game emerged in Russia in early 2017.

In Russia more than 100 deaths have been attributed to the “Blue Whale” challenge or similar games. In February two adolescents jumped from a 14 story building in Irkutsk, in the region of Siberia. According to investigators, these suicides took place after completing the tasks.

In Portugal as at 4^th May there are four cases (three of self-mutilation) and one an attempted Suicide that are being investigated by police  for possible connection with this game.

The PSP and GNR have alerted schools throughout the country to this and in turn many have informed parents.

The following information has been provided by the PSP police.

Read more here

On 27^th April a young woman threw herself from an overpass over the railway line and was injured. PSP, who was aware of two other cases, has given advice to parents. PLEASE SHARE THIS.

Participating in a game called the “Blue Whale” is believed to be the origin of this incident that which took place at Algarve railway line in the Ferreiras area of ​​Albufeira.

The young woman, who was injured, was trying to meet the challenges posed by the administrators of an online game , originating in Russia, which is worrying the authorities of several countries because, in addition to inciting acts of self-mutilation. The eventual aim is for the player to commit suicide and the target audience is almost always teenagers weakened by problems such as depression and isolation.

According to the fire department commander, the young woman threw herself from the bridge that crosses the railway line in Ferreiras and “suffered multiple injuries in the lower limbs”, being hospitalized in Faro.

“In the hospital the victim said she was under great pressure and that she threw himself out of the bridge in a state of despair,” he told PÚBLICO António Coelho, relating this situation to the game “Blue Whale”.

Recently an attempted suicide took place in Spain linked to this game. In Brazil, the phenomenon took on more dramatic proportions, with news of several dozen suicides committed by adolescents in at least eight states in the context of participation in the game.

Known as the Blue Whale, the game includes 50 levels of difficulty, the last of which is the suicide of its players. The tasks that your often-adolescent players are challenged to perform start with relatively innocuous things like listening to a particular song or video submitted by the administrators, or curators, of the game.

The Blue Whale reportedly targets players between 10 and 14 year old, pushing them into completing a list of pained daily tasks such as waking up in the middle of the night, cutting shapes into their skin or contemplating death.

As the game progresses over several week, participants reach a final task – committing suicide.

The game that has been spreading online among teens has led to warnings from police across Europe and Russia, Central Asia and North and South America.

The Blue Whale began in Russia on VKontakte – the national equivalent to Facebook – and Russian police have been investigating the relationship between this and suicides over a few months involving about 130 teenagers. More recently, in Colombia, police have detected that some 3200 youths with Facebook profiles have participated in the game.

Telephone help and support services for suicide in Portugal and Europe

SOS – National Relief Service
112

SOS Voz Amiga
(between 16 and 24h00)
21 354 45 45
91 280 26 69
96 352 46 60

SOS Phone Friend
239 72 10 10

Friendship Phone
22 832 35 35

Listen – Voice of Support – Gaia
22 550 60 70

SOS Student
(8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. )
808 200 204

Voices of Friends of Hope
(20h00 to 23h00)
22 208 07 07

On 25^th April the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon, through the Transport Security Division, arrested at a 49 year old man at a metro station in Lisbon for carrying out two robberies on public transport. The person was caught in the act and was also a subject of an arrest warrant for similar robberies.

Wanted for having committed two robberies in stations in the metropolitan area of Lisboa, the man stole a total value of 232.50 euros in these cases. These crimes led to a request to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Arrest Warrants to be issued and now executed.

The detainee, with criminal records for the same type of crime, has appeared before the 1st Section of Criminal Court of Lisbon, for 1st judicial interrogation, and is awaiting trial under Preventive Detention.

PSP and GNR are expected to start certifying trainers and training dangerous dog keepers by the end of the second quarter of this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) announced today.

Although the ordinance came into effect in 2015,  the Public Security Police and the National Republican Guard, responsible for certification and training, have not started courses due to lack of funding.

However as the funding was approved in January this year the GNR explained that “the start of certification of trainers and the training of potentially dangerous dog keepers is expected soon, and this date will be announced by DGAV (Directorate General of Food and Veterinary) “.

The MAI states that a technical group was created that brought together elements of the PSP, GNR and DGAV to define the technical standards applicable to the certification of trainers and the training program of the holders of dangerous dogs.

According to the MAI, this technical group “has recently completed work”, which will now allow “operationalizing the certification of trainers and the training of the holders”.

“PSP and GNR will begin training and certification soon after DGAV’s approval of the training and certification program for technical standards, which is expected to happen by the end of the second quarter of this year,” says MAI.

Under the law, the GNR and PSP are the competent authorities to certify dangerous dog trainers. In addition to certifying who will be able to train these dogs, the two entities “should also provide the required training to the holders of dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs,” according to the ordinance published in 2015.

Data released by the GNR indicate that there were 65 attacks of by dangerous dogs so far this year, down from the same period last year, when 71 attacks were reported. In 2016 GNR registered a total of 235 attacks and 284 casualties.

Alarm weapons converted into real weapons (illegal in Portugal) and easily acquired on the Internet are one of the biggest concerns of the PSP, as more and more criminal groups are using them.

From 2014 until the end of the first quarter of this year, the PSP seized 6870 weapons of this type, according to data from the Department of Arms and Explosives (DAE) of the police provided to the Diario de Noticias (DN). They are mostly alarm guns that were handed over to the DAE by other security forces and district police commands because they were confiscated in criminal prevention operations or in criminal proceedings. The most frequent are the Reck, Tanfoglio, Rohner and Star models.

It is possible to order one, paying between one hundred and 200 euros, on a site registered in Turkey, where the business is legal, and transform it into Portugal, making it a true and low-cost firearm. Many will be in the hands of criminal groups and others with people who have been unable or unwilling to obtain a license to use and carry a defence weapon.

The purchase of illegal weapons on the internet on sites domiciled in third countries or foreign companies is very difficult to control. “As a serious security threat and in order to combat the illicit traffic in weapons through the internet, Europol has since 2013 carried out a number of operational actions, ranging from the training of police officers to cyber patrolling, especially in sales on the so-called darknet, or the black market of the internet, “said Pedro Moura, commander of the Department of Arms and Explosives of the PSP of Lisbon.