A 29-year-old Dutch-Angolan man believed to be tied to Islamic terrorist groups was arrested at Lisbon’s Portela Airport on Thursday night (July 3) after gaining access to a restricted area of the airport near an aeroplane that was about to take off.
At the time of his arrest, the suspect had a 20cm-long knife in his possession.
Although his intentions are still unknown, Portuguese media reports that the Central Department of Criminal Investigation (DCIAP) have already confirmed that the suspect was at a jihad training camp in Syria earlier this year.
The man was interrogated on Friday (July 4) by the UNCT – Unit for Combating Terrorism – and was heard on Saturday (July 5) by the Portuguese Central Criminal Court.
He is now under preventive detention at Lisbon’s Monsanto jail, while PJ criminal police and the airport authorities have already begun investigating the incident.
