Two people were arrested
Portugal’s main criminal investigation agency, the judicial police (PJ), has arrested two people and dismantled a clandestine laboratory which produced doping substances in the Lisbon region, considered to be the largest ever identified and located in Portugal.
In a statement released today, the police force said it had carried out a police operation in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, called ‘Corpus Insanus‘, based on strong evidence that several crimes were being committed, including the trafficking of prohibited substances, qualified tax fraud and money laundering related to the illicit laboratory production of anabolic steroids.
During the operation, police carried out 11 searches, six of which were at homes, and two people were arrested.
According to the PJ, the searches carried out led to the “dismantling of a clandestine laboratory for the mass production of anabolic substances, probably the largest yet identified and located.”
Laboratory equipment and industrial machinery used in the production of these substances were seized, as well as “prohibited substances” which were already packaged and labelled, including cartons, blister packs, holograms and leaflets. The goal was to make the substances appear as if they were produced with certification and legally.
More than €250,000 in cash and digital assets were also seized, namely cryptocurrency, as well as four luxury vehicles valued at around €300,000.
Several PJ units were involved in the “Corpus Insanus” operation, which was carried out by the National Anti-Corruption Unit as part of an enquiry led by the Lisbon Criminal Investigation and Action Department, namely the National Unit for Combating Cybercrime and Technological Crime (UNC3T), the Technological and Computer Forensics Unit (UPTI), the Scientific Police Laboratory (LPC), the Financial and Accounting Forensics Unit (UPFC) and the Financial and Asset Management Services Directorate (DSGFP), totalling around a hundred investigators and experts.
According to the PJ, one of the detainees was remanded in custody and the other has to appear before the authorities every two weeks, after being brought before the Central Criminal Investigation Court for questioning.
After the analysing the evidence now collected, the PJ’s investigation will continue in order to “fully ascertain the truth and bring it to a swift conclusion”.
Source: LUSA
