Gang crime involving youths ‘on increase’ in Portugal
A 24-year-old rapper on holiday in Portugal from London, UK, died in the early hours of Sunday morning after being shot in the chest during a ‘party’ in the Quinta do Mocho neighbourhood of Loures.
Hip-hop drill artist Jboogz was shot with a .22 pistol.
Police are working on the theory that this was yet another ‘settling of scores’ between rival gangs that are increasingly reeling in young men in inner-city areas in this country.
Tabloid Correio da Manhã refers to the steady increase in juvenile crime since the start of the pandemic, and the increase in young people (mainly young men) ‘interned in educative centres’.
Jboogz appears to have been linked with the RDM gang (standing for Rapzes do Mocho/ Mocho Boys). He frequently appeared in hip-hop drill clips carrying a gun. According to CM, drill is a genre associated with gangs and violence.
RDM has been ‘in confrontation with PKA (standing for Putos com Attitude/ Kids with Attitude) since May, the paper adds.
Back in May, two young men were shot at a nearby railway station, while another was left at Loures Hospital with bullet wounds to his chest, and subsequently died.
Last month another shooting took place outside a disco in Odivelas (this time the perpetrators shot from a moving car, and the victim survived…)
All these incidents are believed to be connected with the shooting of Jboogz (real name so far not supplied but described as a Luso-Guinea national).
Another young man was injured in this latest incident. He entered Lisbon’s Santa Maria Hospital ‘by his own means and is stable’, say reports.
The PJ’s homicide division is now working on the Jboogz killing, and has gathered forensic evidence from the scene in Rua Pero Escobar.
Online commentary shows people are seriously concerned that Portugal’s image as a ‘safe country’ is being relentlessly tarnished.
The last Global Peace Index saw Portugal drop to 6th position, having basked in 3rd place only a few years ago. The reason for the fall has been blamed on ‘increasingly criminality in inner city areas’. Police syndicates have stressed that they hope security will be given a significant boost in State spending in the upcoming 2023 State Budget.
