OFFICERS from the Judicial Police (PJ) have seized three tonnes of cocaine in Faro, in the biggest ever operation of its kind in Portugal. The swoop, part of an ongoing police investigation, led to the detention of four suspects, three Dutch and one Spanish, aged between 38 and 62.
Police said half of the cocaine was seized in a warehouse in the suburbs of the Algarve capital. The remainder was seized in a lorry that was about to enter the Via do Infante motorway. Police officers had followed the vehicle after it left a warehouse, which had been under surveillance for some time.
José Braz, national assistant director of the Judicial Police and responsible for the Central Board of Investigations into Drug Trafficking (DCITE), said that it was the biggest ever seizure of narcotics inside national territory. He also confirmed that investigations would continue with the support of Spanish and Dutch police.
The Judicial Police said that the cocaine, all “high quality”, was divided into 100 bundles. Aside from the lorry, which carried a Dutch number plate, police also seized two cars. With this operation, the PJ/DCITE said it believed it had “delivered a sharp blow to the power of organised drug traffickers responsible for bringing illicit substances into the country”.
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