SECURITY IS to be stepped up along the Algarve coast, which is considered to be the nation’s most vulnerable area in terms of falling victim to drug trafficking and the arrival of illegal immigrants to Portuguese shores.
SIVIC, the Integrated System of Coastal Vigilance, working on a format of cameras, radar and night vision equipment from both fixed and moveable workstations, should be fully installed and operational by the end of 2009. The station at Olhão will have the support of 250 personnel, based between the Guadiana river in the east and Sagres in the west.
According to data from a report in 2007 by the Polícia Judiciária, 22 tonnes of cannabis was seized in the region which accounted for 50 per cent of the national total of drugs seized.
The Algarve currently has four launch patrols serving the area, which are deemed necessary to control what is described by the authorities to be a high risk coastline.
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