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Safe Communities Algarve is organizing with the GNR and PSP a number of crime prevention displays over the Easter holiday. The aim of the displays is to enhance awareness of the type of crime that maybe occur during the holiday season and simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime. The crime level in the Algarve is low compared with many holiday destinations and the displays are therefore aimed at making the Algarve an even safer place to live and visit.

The GNR cover the rural areas of the Algarve including the medium sized towns whereas the PSP are responsible for the larger cities including Faro and Portimão. The details of the events at the time of going to press are:

16th April – Praia da Luz – this display will be held from 1000 to 1400 hrs in conjunction with the GNR, at the Spa Supermarket. We welcome all visitors to the stand where the GNR Portimão Safe Residence Programme team will be on hand to explain the SRP programme, register those who wish to join and learn more about crime prevention advice.

17th April – Praia da Rocha – this display will be held from 1000 to 1200 hrs and 1400 to 1600 hrs at the PSP Tourist police post at the beach front at Praia da Rocha. We welcome all visitors both residents and tourists to learn more about the work of the PSP in this busy tourist area as well as the supplementary responsibilities of Safe Communities Algarve.

19th April – Algarve Shopping Centre near Guia from 1400 to 2000 hrs. The theme of this display being held in collaboration with GNR Albufeira and other GNR specialist units is “Safe Families Day”. The aim is to promote crime prevention awareness both for adults and younger people. The display stand will be close to the west entrance to Continente Supermarket and will have a family theme. There will be special surprises for children and we invite all families to visit the stand.

We welcome as many people as possible to visit the displays. Please check with the Safe Communities Algarve website www.safecommunitiesalgarve.com – News page for any changes to the programmes closer to the dates.

 

The Judicial Police (South) reported on 7th April that they had identified and arrested a man suspected of committing a crime of aggravated fraud amounting to over € 1 million euros.

Since 2001, the defendant working in a  bank in Loulé, wrote false cheques of customers of the bank and deposited them in his account.

The detainee age 52-year-old has appeared in court and has been prohibited from leaving the country and his passport seized.

The BBC has obtained two confidential documents alleging police corruption by officers from the former Flying Squad.

The intelligence reports detail how officers were suspected of a conspiracy to kidnap and allegedly planned to hold a victim for a £50,000 ransom in the mid 1990s.

Sources claim the files were part of the mass shredding of documents at Scotland Yard in 2002.

The Metropolitan Police says it is confident it has intelligence on all the officers named in the reports.

BBC London’s Glen Campbell spoke to former former Metropolitan Police officer Brian Paddick and Alistair Morgan, whose brother Daniel, it is claimed, was planning to expose police corruption but was murdered in 1987. More details at

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-26874903

 

 

 

The PSP have reported that the Loures Police Division, PSP Metropolitan Command PSP Lisbon,  following a 6 month investigation have arrested 3 men and  one woman aged between 28 and 58 years on suspicion of trafficking in drugs.

During the investigation arrests were made ​​in the municipalities of Odivelas and Amadora and included home searches conducted in the municipalities of Loures – Apelação e de Odivelas – Serra da Luz e Póvoa de Santo Adrião e ainda in the Council of Amadora. During the operation over several days at total of 14621.37 gms of suspected heroine, € 970 in cash, three vehicles and 10 mobile phones were seized.

The amount of heroine seized equates to about 175,600 individual doses and upon being adulterated, cut and placed on the “market” could be valued at about € 500,000.

With the arrests that have already been made and the consequent dismantling of what the PSP are sure to be a criminal network that supplied the region of “Greater Lisbon”, they believe this is a blow to the trafficking of “heroin” in the region

 

The detainees, all with criminal records, will today present the first court hearing in the Judicial Court of Loures.

At 11.15 hrs on 31st March 2014 the PSP Division Loures of the Metropolitan PSP  Command Lisbon, arrested  in  Sacavém, Loures, a man and a woman, aged 48 and 34 years respectively, on suspicion of carrying out more than 30 burglaries and scams mainly in the metropolitan area of ​​Lisbon.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the man approached the victims, preferably the elderly, offering them a box of watches supposed to be of “great value”, in exchange for gold.

They then made use of a cream  placed in the hands of the victims, to pull gold rings of the fingers of the victims before fleeing in a vehicle.

Following the arrests, house searches were conducted in the area of Loures and Crato – Portalegre, resulting in the location and seizure of 3 cars, several pieces of gold valued at about € 6.000,  2 mobile phones and other items, suspected to be stolen.

Both detainees who have criminal records, were presented at the Judicial Court of Loures for application to be held in remand pending trial.

On 31^st March 2014 GNR Albufeira arrested, a citizen aged 27 years, indicted for the crime of theft by carjacking of a passenger car.

The arrest followed a report of a car which had been stolen in Albufeira during which the driver had been assaulted.

Based on the report the GNR subsequently located the vehicle on the outskirts of Albufeira but there was no one inside. However following enquiries by the GNR officers and with a description of the suspect located the culprit in an area of the town about one and a half hours after the crime had occurred. The person was found to be in procession of items stolen from the car and was arrested.

The detainee is to appear before the Judicial District Court of Albufeira for application to be remanded in custody.

On 31^st March the Centre of Criminal Investigation GNR Silves conducted an anti-crime operation by executing a search warrant at a residence located house in the city Portimão.

The operation, which arose following an investigation into a crime of theft that occurred about a week ago and resulted in the arrest of a Portuguese citizen, 22 years, resident in Lagos, indicted for the crime of drug trafficking.

During the search 122 single doses of hashish, a greenhouse for growing cannabis, (comprising potted plants), an infrared lamp and a fan, were seized. Also seized were a camcorder, two mobile phones, an iphone, 20 clocks , two video game consoles, 4 melee weapons ( knives ), one  round of 7.62 calibre ammunition, a precision scale and a mill for grinding the narcotics.

The detainee, who has a criminal record for the crime of theft, will appear in the Judicial District Court of Portimão.

 

Welcome news for the Algarve is that preliminary crime statistics published by Direção-Geral da Política de Justica show that there were 23,060 recorded crimes in the Algarve in 2013, a decrease of 9.3% compared with the 2012. This is the lowest since 2001 and is the 5th successive year that crime has decreased in the region.

The national report indicates that in Portugal as a whole there were 376,336 crimes recorded, a decrease of 6.9% compared with 2012. Violent crime fell by a significant 9.5% to 20,147 cases.

Despite the downturn in crime, once again theft from vehicles across the country was the highest reported crime at 29,807 cases and this together with theft of vehicles represents about 11.8% of all reported crime. Although most crime categories decreased there were 22,247 cases of domestic violence, an increase of 3.1% making it the fourth highest recorded crime.

For the first time in four years however robberies inside residences decreased; registering 848 cases compared to 995 in 2012. Household burglaries also decreased by 11.7% to 22,206 cases. After some years of increasing cases of metal theft, 2013, showed a decrease of 11.5% from 15,171 to 13,426 cases compared with 2012. Pick pocketing decreased by some 6.6% but there was a significant increase of 19.8% in opportunist theft to 9625 cases. Unsurprisingly there was an increase in scams reported to police up by 759 to 12,287 cases and there were 1105 cases of bank fraud reported up by 267 cases.

The Algarve

Preliminary crime figures for the Algarve published by the Institute of National Statistics (INE) show that crime decreased in 11 of the 16 municipalities the exceptions being Vila do Bispo, Monchique, Lagos, Alcoutim and Olhão where there were slight increases. The biggest decrease was in Vila Real de Santo Antonio down 25%, followed by Silves down by 22%; Albufeira down 12.8% and Loulé where crime decreased by 11.8% to 3791 cases compared to 2012.

The significant decreases in overall crime in some of the inner areas appears largely attributable to decreases in crimes against property, which includes burglaries, theft from vehicles and other thefts, where in Silves and Loulé combined showed a decrease of 20.2%. Crime against persons which includes assault, robbery and, domestic violence stood at 4327 cases compared with 4477 in 2012. In the Algarve crime against property constitutes 66% of overall reported crime compared with 53.7% for the country as a whole, but crime against persons is only 19% of total crime compared with 22.4% nationally.

Geographically there tends to be more crime in the populated central areas of the Algarve. In the less populated eastern part of the region comprising Alcoutim, Tavira, Castro Marim and V.R.S Antonio 2110 crimes were reported which is just 9.3% of the regions total.

The reason why crime is decreasing is difficult to attribute to one single factor. During 2013 there have been a number of major successes in terms of police operations against criminal gangs and police commanders indicate that some overseas criminal elements have left the country. In terms of the Algarve, which is showing a more significant decrease in crime compared with the country as a whole, the likely reasons include: the increase in police personnel during the summer months; special programmes such as the GNR Safe Residence programme and the PSP Safe Destination programme together with greater awareness and preventative steps being taken by the community. Areas where more concerted effort is required is reducing the level of opportunist theft and minimizing ones exposure to scams.

It was reported on 27th March that the Judicial Police, through the Department of Criminal Investigation of Setúbal, with the collaboration of the Tax Authority and the GNR Special Operations Group, conducted a joint operation in the districts of Lisbon and Setúbal, which resulted in the arrest of four men and three women, suspected of practicing qualified tax fraud, corruption, money laundering and receiving crimes.

The investigation, which has been ongoing for over a year, was aimed at neutralizing the activities of this group whose activities was causing serious damage to the national economy.

During the operation over 70 kgs of gold, 150 kgs of silver, approximately € 1 million in cash, several dozens of diamonds, five cars, a boat and two motorcycles, as well as innumerable documents were seized.

Part of precious materials seized were the result of the commission of crimes against property, as well as unreported transactions performed by individuals. Detainees will appear in court at the first application for judicial interrogation.

Comment

According to Gold Price.org the value of the gold seized is approximately € 2.1 million and the silver is worth approx € 70,000

Two men aged 20 and 21 were arrested by the GNR Albufeira on 25th March 2014, at 20:00 hours following a theft at a major shopping center store.

A warning was given by staff to the GNR that two individuals had stolen a number of garments.

They were taken to the GNR station and notified to appear in court.