Just as law firm PLMJ is in the spotlight for alleged illegal payments of over €1 million made by Silves Council, one of their regional representatives Francisco Lobo Xavier has blasted onto the news for all the wrong reasons.
Xavier, a partner in Gama Lobo Xavier e Luís Teixeira e Melo – Sociedade de Advogados in Guimarães, was rounded up in a police operation that covered five boroughs in the north of Portugal and seized 1,530 doses of heroin, 400 doses of cocaine, two guns, €7,700 in cash, 16 cellphones and two vehicles.
Arrested with nine others, including two women, a police source stated: “All those detained were dedicated to the trafficking of narcotics in public places.”
In total, 100 police were drafted in for the swoop which alighted on 18 residences earlier this week.
The defendants all appeared in court on Wednesday, with Xavier being photographed with his head covered by a sweater.
According to national tabloid Correio da Manhã, the 42-year-old lawyer had been caught “in flagrante” with around €400 worth of heroin in his possession earlier in the week.
Xavier had “just purchased the drug”, explained CM, and had been under observation by police in an investigation that had been ongoing since the beginning of the year.
The son of one of Guimarães’ most renowned lawyers – and cousin of former CDS-PP MP António Lobo Xavier – Xavier ended up appearing in a court in which he had “many times been at the bar in drug trafficking cases”, added CM.
“Known for his drug dependence for many years,” Xavier faced trafficking charges.
As CM explained, the law only permits the possession of one gram of heroin, while Xavier was discovered with nine grams, “which leads investigators to suspect he could have been dedicated to resale”.
But after a break in court proceedings on Wednesday, the court decided to free Xavier on the order that he should “submit himself to detox treatment”.
Four other defendants were freed on the understanding that they would present themselves periodically to police, while five were sent to jail, among them a bricklayer already in jail for domestic violence, a 50-year-old female teacher and a couple described as the “principal sellers” in the ring.
