On 25th May thieves broke into a residential property in the historic part of the centre stealing Euro 20,000 in cash and jewellery valued at around Euro 40,000. They entered the property whilst the owner a 81 year old pensioner was in a cafe. The entry was made by climbing a wall in the back yard and broke a kitchen window.

The cash had been kept in a box to pay for his grandson’s education. During the break-in four shotguns were taken from a cupboard in the lounge and left on the kitchen floor.

The GNR are investigating.

GNR Silves recovers stolen hives

On 22nd May the Criminal Investigation unit of GNR Silves conducted a house search at a residence in  Fonte Louzeiros, Silves, in connection with the theft of bee hives.

This followed a complaint made by a bee keeper on 20th May regarding the theft of a considerable amount of beehives installed in the town of Silves.

During a search at a warehouse adjacent to a residence and an annex to the property the following the stolen goods were recovered: 171 socks handles; five boxes; six  nests; ten lusitanos nests; two cores; a lusitanian hive; 28 covers; two dozen boards; a  bidon with 320 kg of honey; a still; a centrifuge; a boiler to melt wax and a bidon with wax; an electric hammer, two  pressure machines and three saws and several pieces of copper.

The suspect, a Portuguese citizen aged 24 years, had already been indicted for committing criminal offenses, including theft in other municipalities of the region including Albufeira and Loulé.

To date five victims of theft of hives have identified the items seized as their property. The GNR are trying to identify owners of other stolen property not related to bee keeping.

On  19^th May the Research Center and Support for Specific Victims Unit (NIAVE) of the Territorial Command of Faro National Guard, based in Faro, conducted a search operation at a residence located in the municipality of Loulé , following an investigation into a complaint of domestic violence, by a person aged 19 years.

During the operation at the residence of the accused (her boyfriend and his mother), the following items were seized:

• Three compressed air rifles – calibre 4.5mm;
• An air rifle – calibre 5.5mm;
• A sabre;
• Two mocas handmade;
• A handmade bat;
• Five knives of various sizes;
• A butterfly knife;
• Thirty-three calibre cartridges 12;
• two calibre lead boxes 5.5mm;
• A 9mm round of ammunition;

Plus other items

Targeted in the process, the Portuguese citizens (mother and son) aged 42 and 19-years old respectfully were detained for further enquiries.

The Judicial Police, through the Department of Criminal Investigation of Portimão, have identified and arrested a man, in connection with the sexual abuse of a dependent minor and children.

The victim, a girl now 15 years old, was the target of abuse about two years.

The investigations began following a complaint made by CPCJ.

The detainee, 40 years old, has appeared in court for first interrogation and application of remand conditions.

GNR Olhão arrested on 17^th May, two Portuguese citizens aged 31 and 34 years for  the attempted theft of vehicle crime.

During a patrol the GNR were alerted to the illegitimate absence of two persons from the Support Centre for Addiction, located in Marim – Olhão, which had had just taken place.

The GNR conducted a search of the area and discovered the two persons in the urbanization Pinheiros de Marim – Olhão.

The military then proceeded to the identification of individuals who were found in possession of an object usually used in connection with vehicle theft.  Further enquiries and searches found a car in the nearby vicinity where there were indications that it had been broken into. Further enquiries are continuing.

GNR Albufeira Sub-division arrested on 17^th May a Portuguese citizen aged 25 years for drug trafficking crime.

During one of the actions to combat crime in the area the GNR identified an individual suspected to be involved in drug trafficking in the area.

A GNR patrol located and identified the individual who had been arrested earlier this month for possession of narcotics.

When approached by the GNR the suspect tried to get rid of a “package” in his possession.

A total of 58 individual doses of hashish was discovered, slightly more than the 43 doses seized from the same individual on last May 1^st at the same location (zone from Fisherman’s Beach).

The detainee, residing in Albufeira, is being present to the Department of Investigation and Penal Action prosecution of Albufeira for application of appropriate enforcement measures.

During the weekend of 16^th/17^th May the GNR Albufeira Sub-Division detained a Portuguese citizen aged 39 years of age, indicted for committing two crimes of theft.

On Saturday morning, at about 0400 hrs during a routine patrol by the GNR, they were alerted to a report of a burglary at a residential area in the town.

On arrival at the scene the GNR patrol managed to apprehend the individuals who were in the process of escaping on foot from the scene, having been surprised earlier by the owners.

Some 24 hrs later, at about 04h00 on 17 May, Sunday, the same person was again arrested in this case after having stolen the suitcase from a foreign tourist, in one of the main nightlife areas of Albufeira.

Following a report of this the GNR responded and managed to catch the person and recovered and returned to the legitimate owner the stolen goods (one phone, a lighter and 60 € in the ECB’s currency).

The detainee, residing in Albufeira, is being present to the Department of Investigation and Penal Action that city for the application of enforcement measures found appropriate

During the morning of 14^th May PSP Lagos arrested two individuals, 32 and 34 years for trafficking in narcotics in the city.

The arrests resulted from an investigation conducted over the past months by the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Police of Lagos, which identified the suspects who are unemployed, but were regularly supplying narcotics to consumers in the area.

As a result of the investigation the PSP obtained a search warrant from the Judicial Authority, targeting the residence of the suspects.

During the searches, various products and articles related to the crime in question, were seized including about 1,200 individual doses of cocaine, 1,600 euros, 1 precision scale and other material used for the preparation and packaging of the narcotic products.

The suspects were presented in Court on 15^th May.

On 17^th May 2015 there were several football games played in the penultimate round of the 1st Football League at stadiums located in areas under the ​​responsibility of Public Security (PSP), specifically in the cities of Lisbon and Guimaraes. Because these are games that potentially could dictate the winner of this year’s championship, PSP, based on the available information, including historical information concerning these games and in association with the Clubs themselves, assessed these as high risk in terms of the threat to public order.

Consequently the PSP employed police units considered appropriate to deal with the risk.

At the end of the games celebrations took place is various cities under the responsibility of the PSP without any of significant security incidents.

However, as is common knowledge and has been widely reported by various media outlets; in the cities of Guimarães and Lisbon challenges to public order, necessitated police intervention in order to restore public order, to ensure the security of persons and property.

Specifically, on May 17 in the city Guimarães, including in the vicinity of D. Afonso Henriques Stadium, the following took place:

a) At about 17:45 hrs there were several areas of tension before the football game, with especially in the vicinity of Stadium involving about 500 Benfica (SLB) fans and about 300 Victory Sport Club fans from Guimarães (VSC). The clash between fans of both teams included the throwing bottles, stones, pyrotechnic articles (commonly known fiery lights and firecrackers) and aggression. The PSP was forced to intervene to stop the disorder which had resulted in damage to vehicles parked on public roads and outdoor furniture;

b) Upon arrival at the stadium of the bus carrying the Benfica team, was attacked with various objects, resulting in broken windows;

c) The game itself passed without any significant challenges to public order;

d) At the end of the game, a group of supporters who, caused extensive damage to existing furniture on site, with partial destruction of some toilets and a bar (the sports arena) and the theft of storage material and the subsequent theft of merchandising belonging to another group of fans;

e) At the end of the game, in the vicinity of the stadium, there was a police action that resulted in the arrest of a citizen. This occurrence was filmed by a television station and widely publicized. After viewing the images in question, the PSP decided to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the police element involved in the arrest.

f) As a result of the various police interventions, six arrests were made for contempt, insults, threats with a replica firearm and possession of fireworks;

g) Assistance was provided by teams of Red Cross to deal with injuries both to police officers and citizens arising from the disorder.

Specifically, on 17 and 18 May in Lisbon, there was:

a) At about 21:45 on the 17th, disorder took place requiring police intervention at the in public transport area of Campo Grande, involving supporters of both teams which resulted in three people injured as well as two policemen;

b) At about 00:45 on the 18th, the team and entourage of Sport Lisboa e Benfica (SLB) arrived at Marquis of Pombal with escorted by police without any incident during the journey;

c) At approximately 01:20 of the 18th, there was a security incident in the vicinity of Eduardo VII Park, with serious public disorder due to an altercation between some supporters, which included throwing various objects, including glass bottles. In order to contain the incident in question and prevent this becoming worse, police intervened, with glass bottles and other objects being thrown at the police.

d) The initial police intervention located, was not able to put an end to the disorder and it was therefore necessary to gather police reinforcements using force to restore public order;

e) During the incident 16 police officers were injured with multiple abrasions, mainly due to throwing stones, glass bottles and fireworks, and a traffic division vehicle was damaged with a broken glass;

f) The PSP is unaware of the number of citizens who also may have been injured on site;

g) Thirteen arrests for possession of fireworks and attacks on policemen in service were made;

h) During the operation several pyrotechnic material, was seized and is being analysed;

i) The PSP also received 13 complaints of robberies that occurred on public roads during the festivities;

j) At about 0400 hrs on the 18th law and order was restored in the Marques de Pombal and the vicinity and the area was open to traffic by 0530 hrs.

Finally, in Oporto police intervention was required in different parts of the city, in the context with the festivities, but were dealt with without the need for greater operational employment interventions However, seven people were arrested for drug trafficking, possession of fireworks, possession of a prohibited gun and through the execution of an arrest warrant.

In total the police operation resulted in the arrest of 26 people for various offences.

The PSP regrets that the festive events degenerated into violent situations that required police intervention to restore public order and ensure the safety of people and property.

Issued in Portuguese by the PSP National Office, May 18, 2015

Note:

A number of official enquiries have been opened concerning the incidents, including the widely publicised incident concerning the arrest of a person in Guimarães. There are also allegations in the media that the police did not have sufficient protective equipment to deal with the initial stages of the incidents.

On May 6, police officers of the Criminal Investigation Police of PSP Portimão, Faro District Command, arrested five suspects, one of them female, aged between 27 and 42 years for drug trafficking in the city.

The arrests resulted from an investigation conducted over the last few months, which identified the unemployed suspects originating from the Greater Lisbon area.

Search warrants were then obtained through the Judicial Authority, and executed at three residences used by the suspects. Some 40 police officers of different police stations in the Police Division of Portimão were involved.

During the search 3,300 individual doses of heroin, 570 individual doses of cocaine, 10,000 euros in cash, 1 precision scale, mobile phones and other electronic products, as well as various materials used for packaging and marketing the product narcotic, were seized.

It should be noted that two of the suspects already had criminal records for this type of crime and were on probation.