Bar arrest

More than a dozen female Ukrainian immigrants, employed in a disco in Serro Branco in Albufeira, were taken to the town’s GNR station recently and two illegal immigrants were arrested. According to sources, the GNR operation came about after residents living near the disco complained about the noise the bar’s clients made. “The noise that comes from the bar goes on until the early morning and is unbearable. No one who lives here can sleep,” complained one local. “And, on top of the noise, there are things that go on in there that are despicable and everybody knows that the establishment clearly has no licence,” he complained. Hours before the Albufeira GNR officers raided the disco, they were called to a fight involving rival gangs of Ukrainians and Moldavians, outside the BP petrol station in the centre of the city. A total of 15 Eastern Europeans, aged between 20 and 30, were also taken to the GNR station for questioning. One immigrant was seriously injured in the fight, but refused to press charges, and claimed that his injuries were the result of a fall. GNR officers are currently investigating the cause of the fight, after one anonymous onlooker revealed he believed it to be related to an extortion racket. In a separate incident, the SEF – Border Control Service – raided the Praia da Luz area and questioned 128 foreign workers, arresting 20 people who failed to produce their documents.