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Covid-19: Tax authorities seize 550 boxes of anti-flu medicine banned in Portugal

On 2nd July, the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) seized, through the Customs of Leixões, 550 boxes of anti-flu drugs (allegedly used as drugs for covid-19), the marketing of which is not authorised on the Portuguese market.

The drugs, according to a statement released by AT, were camouflaged in boxes presented as containing LED lamps, with origin declared as Hong Kong.

According to the same information, these are “anti-flu drugs marketed in the Chinese market, allegedly used as drugs for covid-19” and which, according to AT, “have repeatedly been the subject of illegal import attempts by other means, namely by post ”.

This inspection operation was carried out under the auspices of the World Customs Organization, having been carried out by the Customs of Leixões based on the risk analysis developed by AT.

The 550 seized medicine boxes contained 19,800 individual doses.

PSP detains 11 suspected drug traffickers in Portalegre

Eleven people, seven men and four women, were arrested by the PSP for crimes of drug trafficking and possession of prohibited weapons in the municipality of Portalegre, and the agents seized MDMA, ecstasy, hashish and liamba.

The operation on the 28th June, that fell within the scope of the investigation of drug trafficking crimes, commenced at 07:00 hrs in the morning and its results were announced during the morning by the District Command of Portalegre of the Public Security Police (PSP), in a statement.

After the operation was completed, the source of the district command of the PSP revealed to Lusa, in the late afternoon that the 11 people were detained, aged between 20 and 55 years.

The same source stated that “The individuals, all of whom live in the municipality of Portalegre, were arrested for crimes of drug trafficking and possession of prohibited weapons and were presented to the judicial authority on Tuesday 30th at 9.30 am.”

This police operation also “identified seven other individuals, of similar ages” to those of the detained, “and these were notified to appear before the Commission for the Deterrence of Drug Addiction in Portalegre, for being involved in drug use”, he added.

The operation, which is the result of “an investigation into drug trafficking that has been underway at the Criminal Investigation Squadron of the Comando de Portalegre since the end of last year”, involved “21 house searches and six vehicles,” reported by the same source.

“We have MDMA, ecstasy, hash and liamba”, as well as “a converted pistol”, that is, “a prohibited class A weapon”, and “ammunition of various calibres and some prohibited weapons, such as a brass knuckles and a butterfly knife”.

A light passenger vehicle, three motorcycles, several mobile phones, computers and scales and “other objects related to the narcotics trafficking activity” are also included in the seizure.

The operation mobilised “more than 60 policemen, assigned to the Criminal Investigation and Public Order of the Portalegre Command, with the reinforcement of the Special Police Unit and the District Commands of Évora, Santarém, Castelo Branco and Guarda, as well as kinotechnical binomials for the detection of narcotics,” summarized the PSP source.

Missing woman found by the PSP in a deserted location

A 63-year-old woman was rescued in a remote location in the Serra da Carregueira, Sintra

The 63-year-old woman, who had been missing, was rescued in a remote location in the Serra da Carregueira, Sintra, where she was found disoriented, unable to move, dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia.

According to the Public Security Police, the woman, resident of Telheiras, Lisbon, disappeared on June 21st.

On that day, the family members reported her disappearance after they realised that the woman was not in her room or answering her phone.

After several leads, the PSP were able to confirm that the victim was in the Serra da Carregueira area, in Sintra. Searches were initiated, along paths and in woods, in which the PSP policemen and the Firemen of the Corporación de Belas took part “, explains the PSP.

The woman was eventually located after 56 hours. She was in a deserted place, no longer able to move, disoriented, dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia.

The woman was transported to Hospital Fernando da Fonseca, in Amadora.

Fewer reported domestic violence crimes and homicides in the first quarter of 2020

Complaints of domestic violence to police authorities fell by almost 10% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2019, and femicides fell by 60% in the same period, according to official data released on the 25th June.

According to official statistics released by the Office of the Minister of State and the Presidency, the Public Security Police (PSP) and the National Republican Guard (GNR) received 6,347 domestic violence reports in the first three months of the year, down 9.1% than the 6,980 participations in the same period of 2019.

The number of homicides in the context of domestic violence also decreased significantly in the period under analysis, with the homicide of women having the greatest percentage drop in the comparison of the first quarter of 2020 against that of 2019, with a decrease of 60% (from 10 homicides to 4).

The quarter covered about 15 days of period of state of emergency due to the covid-19 pandemic, enacted in Portugal with effect from 19 March, and forcing the confinement, which led to the manifestation of fears of an escalation of crimes of domestic violence, something that data from the Government, police and organizations working in this area have not confirmed.

The numbers record five homicides in the first three months of the year, including in addition to the four women, the death of a man.

Regarding the total number of hospitalisations in the national support network for victims of domestic violence, there is no quarterly accounting of these data, this is only released biannually.

In regard to the number of aggressors imprisoned, there was an increase both in preventive detention (9.6% more, with 206 aggressors in prison), and in serving effective prison sentences (16.9% more, with 830 reclusive aggressors).

Coercion measures that enforce ‘a remova’l, recorded an increase of 29.5% (with 671 measures in force), with those involving electronic surveillance those registering the highest percentage increase, with a growth of 38.8% (with 526 measures in force).

From the point of view of the victims, there was an increase of 33.4% in the total of those requesting tele-assistance (the commonly called “panic button”), with an increase of 2,503 people covered in the first quarter of 2019 to 3,340 in the same period this year.

In regard to programs for domestic violence offenders, there was a decrease in the number of people covered in prison in 15.2% (from 33 to 28 people), but an increase in programs for aggressors in the community of 6.7% (from 1,273 to 1,358).

The total number of victims transported fell 28.1% (from 498 victims to 358). 26.4% fewer women (from 239 to 176) and 29.9% less children (from 241 to 169) were transported.

Coimbra PSP and Faculty of Psychology prevent police officers’ suicide when “leaving the force”

The District Command of the PSP of Coimbra, in partnership with the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Coimbra, today launched the Phasing-out Project, which prepares the police for the phase of “leaving work” and beginning retirement.

The objective is to carry out, in a accompanied manner, by psychology professionals, “the exit from the active life of the people who work in the force and who pass to the pre-retirement situation and who, due to the circumstances, are faced with a new reality” discloses the Coimbra Public Security Police.

The PSP recalls that “over the course of a few decades we have seen a progressive increase in the average life expectancy in the population, as well as in their functional capacity throughout the aging process”.

With this project, the Coimbra District Command recognizes that “it becomes essential for workers as they age to stimulate their mobility, independence and health”, stressing that it is “one of the most vehement recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) and recently “the same concern was expressed in the National Suicide Prevention Plan, by DGS and the Ministry of Health”.

Knowledge of the “measures that prepare for the transition between working life and retirement” is seen as fundamental by the PSP because “more than a change in the routine” of police officers in retirees or pre-retirees, “may constitute a psychosocial crisis and it is a concern of the National Directorate of PSP and the Command of Coimbra”.

The project, the Phasing-out Project, foresees to create a project for “planning for this period of life and it is fundamental for all citizens as continuity of planning for life, should be encouraged”.

Expectations regarding the exit of the asset, legal, institutional, financial and psychosocial framework, life cycle, professional identity and new projects are areas of intervention of the project. Topics such as health and self-care, building family and social relationships, as well as time management and quality of life are also addressed.

The project has the participation of the professors of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra, Margarida Pedroso Lima and Janes Santos Herdy, as well as the psychologists placed in the Coimbra’s Command of the PSP.

For the first session, policemen who are active and who were born in 1960, 1961 and 1962 were surveyed, and their participation is voluntary, confidential and anonymous.

An interesting overseas report:

Brazil – Internet banking fraud $ 30 million stolen

MP-RS (the Public Ministry of the State) discovered the scheme, but did not reveal which bank suffered the breach.

This is what an operation by the Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil revealed on the morning of Thursday, 25th June. The so-called ‘Operation Criptoshow’ carried out 13 search and seizure warrants related to the case today in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre.

The MP-RS did not reveal who the affected industry or the defrauded bank was, but it did reveal how the attack worked, which will certainly be bad news for the security area of some financial institution soon.

According to the MP-RS, criminals first logged into Internet Banking from an account of a company based in Cachoeirinha, in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, and scheduled 11 wire transfers.

Then, by means of a “sophisticated technique” which the MP-RS does not give details of, they were able to make a transfer from the systems’ account of R $ 30 million to accounts created by fraudsters.

The money was then sent to six companies located in Porto Alegre, Cachoeirinha, São Paulo and Porto Velho, in Rondônia, on April 15th and 16th.

“It would be as if a corporate bank account had invaded another similar account to issue a debit order to the bank in favour of third parties”, describes the promoter Flávio Duarte, in what is the summary of a nightmare scene for any banking institution.

The investigations indicated that it is a criminal organization integrated by the master account holder of the Cachoeirinha company’s bank account, which commanded the transactions and, until recently, was part of the company that benefited with R $ 1 million in the scheme.

Recently, this company had a change in its corporate structure, adding a person with a standard of living ‘incompatible with the company’s operations’.

In parallel to the criminal investigation of the MP, the banking institution, which paid for the financial loss caused to its client, sought to determine the destination of the amounts subtracted.

In this context, he discovered that an exchange (broker that makes trading intermediation for the purchase and sale of virtual assets) was the recipient, on April 16, 2020, of R $ 11,080,000.00, intended for the acquisition of bitcoins, originating just of three of the five companies benefiting from electronic transfers.

On the previous day, another R $ 7,764,927.00, had already been transferred by two of the companies and returned in bitcoins, thus totalling R $ 18,844,927.00.

Prosecutor Flávio Duarte points out that it is difficult to locate the assets obtained from the crime that will be invested in crypto, since there is no institution in charge of carrying out or monitoring transactions.