Category: Uncategorized

Spanish police announced on Saturday 4th March 2017 that they had dismantled a Colombian cocaine trafficking network in an operation that arrested 24 people and seized 2.4 tons of drugs.

The suspected drug traffickers, belonging to two groups linked to the “Cucuta cartel”, “were trying to settle in Spain,” the head of the Spanish police narcotics squad, Ricardo Toro, told a news conference in the city of A Coruña.

The seizure “is one of the most important” carried out in recent years in Spain on cocaine trafficking, he said.

“The majority” of those arrested are of Colombian nationality and the rest are Spanish, he said, adding that many are “very important figures in international cocaine trafficking.”

His job was to get the drug and distribute it in Spain and Europe through double-bottomed cars, his goal being to “establish a new route to Spain” for cocaine, according to a police statement.

Spain is the main drug entry point in Europe due to its proximity to North Africa, where cannabis is produced, and to its ties to South America, where cocaine comes from.

An ATM was broken into and money stolen, on 5th March in the Caldas da Rainha, informed source of the District Command of the PSP of Leiria.

The assault occurred around 5.30 am in a “cash machine located inside the dependence of the Agricultural Credit Bank” of Caldas da Rainha, said a PSP source from Leiria.

According to the same source, the Judiciary Police went to the site to investigate the situation. At present the number of people were involved in the robbery and whether the explosion was made using “gas or explosives,” is not known.

 

The Food and Economic Security Authority seized two elephant ivory tusks, for sale on the internet without a certificate, and identified four people who were going to make the transaction, a practice penalized with a fine between 10,000 and 100,000 euros.

The action was carried out by the National Information and Criminal Investigation Unit and allowed to identify “four individuals who wanted to transact the objects without the required mandatory CITES certificate”, and instituted backtracking proceedings, the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) reported today.

This practice constitutes a very serious environmental counter-order, with a fine between 10 thousand and 100 thousand euros.

The seizure took place in the context of combating trafficking in protected species through CITES a convention on international trade in endangered wild species and led to the confiscation of two tusks or tusks of elephant ivory, one with 36.5 centimeters and about 1.5 kilograms and another one with 91 centimeters, explains the ASAE.

The search to find the 13-year-old teenager missing since Friday, from Ponte de Lima, was extended to the district of Aveiro, and the Judiciary Police of Braga was alerted, according to a GNR source.

According to a source from the Territorial Command of the GNR of Viana do Castelo, the district of Aveiro was identified through the request of cellular location made by that police force.

“Through the mobile phone of the minor, the request for cellular location has identified the district of Aveiro. We have informed the Territorial Command of Aveiro to try and more accurately pin point the area,” the source said.

The same source revealed that “there are reports”, still unconfirmed, that the child will have caught a bus bound for Braga.

The 13-year-old girl, who lives in the parish of Beiral do Lima, “took a school bus on Friday morning to go to class but did not show up at school.”

The authorities’ warning was given at around 8:00 pm by the parents of the minor, “who” cannot explain what happened. ”

The Territorial Command of the GNR of Viana do Castelo said that the military involved in the operation “continue to gather information from relatives and friends of the child”, who “has apparently taken this decision of her own free will.”

The data of the adolescent “are already included in the database of people given as missing”.

 

On 22^nd February a British tourist in his early 70s fell 15 meters at the Levada do Norte, between Camara de Lobos and Garachico.

The man who may have been part of an organised tour suffered a head injury. His condition is unknown.

There have been a number of accidents whilst walking the levadas. On some occasions people are walking alone.

Please see our advice to minimise the risk to you.

On 24th February 2017 a French tourist died while walking up the slight slope in the botanic gardens, he was said to be feeling unwell.

The man 47 years of age, suffered a cardiac arrest, emergency services arrived at the scene but, nothing could be done to save him.

On 27th February in the afternoon a tourist, of German nationality fell the Vereda dos Salgados, in Camacha. He was rescued and is well.

According to a source from the Municipal Fire Department of Santa Cruz, the man fell from a considerable height but was suspended on a tree trunk, having been rescued by two people, with the aid of a rope, before the arrival of the firemen.

The man was conscious and alert, with bruises on his arms and knees. He refused to be transported to the Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, and continued the rest of the walk.

 

A lawyer living in Braga was arrested on Monday when she took drugs, syringes and other prohibited objects to a client who was imprisoned in the Vale do Sousa prison.

Manuela Alves was arrested in flagrante delicto by the Nucleus of Criminal Investigation of GNR of Felgueiras. In her possession she had 100 grams of hashish, syringes and accessories for mobile phones.

The Vale do Sousa regional prison is considered to be highly secure

The GNR detained this Monday two men near Campo Maior, in the district of Portalegre, suspected of having stolen a light goods vehicle, belonging to the municipality of Mogadouro.

According to a source from the GNR, the detention of 47- and 61-year-old men and the recovery of the stolen vehicle was carried out by soldiers of the Campo Maior Territorial Post during a road inspection this Monday morning at Estrada Nacional 373, From Portalegre to Campo Maior.

The vehicle of the municipality of Mogadouro, in the district of Bragança, was stolen during the dawn of today, said the GNR source.

The two men, according to the source of the Guard, who were later released, were subject to expiration of identity and residence.

During 2016 the PSP registered 4932 arrests and the GNR 4017 of people without a valid driving licence.

If you have become accustomed to thinking that the validity of the driving license is almost lifelong, it is best to go check the website of the Institute of Mobility and Transport. It is that the date on the back of your document may not be correct for the purpose of revalidation of the licence, since with the entry into force of a decree-law in 2016 the deadlines have changed significantly.

Last year, until October, according to the latest statistics, 906 people were imprisoned for the crime of driving without legal authorization. For the same reasons, and during the same period, the GNR detained 4017 drivers, while the PSP recorded 4932 arrests.

Since driving without legal authorization is a crime, detainees face a criminal process, which, in most cases, ends in the so-called summary process, a more expeditious form provided by law. Convictions can either be punishable by a fine – for example in the case of primary offenders – but can lead up to imprisonment for up to two years for repeat offenders.

The Law

Decree-Law 40/2016 of 29 July dictates new rules for holders of driving licenses issued or revalidated before 2 January 2013. These drivers – of categories AM, A1, A2, A, B1, B, BE , Mopeds and agricultural tractors – will have to revalidate the licence at the age of 50, without presenting a certificate. Then they revalidate again at 60 and 65 years, with presentation of medical certificate. At age 70, they will have to revalidate with a certificate and, from that age, revalidation happens every two years.

Drivers who are entitled to drive after January 2, 2013, will have to check the validity date of the certificate and renew it every 15 years until they reach the age of 60. When they reach this age, a medical examination is mandatory.

From January 1 of this year, just go to the website of the IMT (Institute of Mobility and Transport), register, fill your application, pay by ATM and receive at home your new driving license. It takes about two weeks. By placing your orders online you automatically have a 10% discount (instead of €30, pay €27), but one of the main savings is time. Often you had to miss a morning or afternoon just to deal with a relatively simple change or to issue a medical certificate. You can now scan the certificate and the process is progressing online.