Joint operation of the Tax Agency, National Police and the Portuguese Judicial Police

• Three people have been arrested in Portuguese territory and the investigation remains open in Spain where investigations continue.
• The narcotic, coming from South America, has been intercepted in two shipments, one batch that was hidden inside juice containers and another inside melons without pulp

May 20, 2024.- The Tax Agency, the National Police and the Judicial Police of Portugal, in a joint operation, have seized more than 1,000 kilos of cocaine in Portugal and Spain. Three people have been arrested in Portuguese territory and the investigation remains open in Spain where investigations continue. The narcotic, coming from South America, has been intercepted in two shipments, one batch that was hidden inside juice containers and another inside melons.

The investigation was initiated by the Portuguese Judicial Police in recent months, after becoming aware of the existence of an organization that introduced large quantities of cocaine from South America. The investigations carried out allowed the intervention in the Portuguese port of Sines of a shipment of 535 kilos of cocaine that was hidden inside juice containers.

The investigation made it possible to detect that the criminal organization used effective methods of concealing the narcotic substance to introduce it into European territory and that, in turn, it could be using Spanish ports for its operations.

With the information provided by the Portuguese authorities, agents of the National Police began investigations in Spanish territory to detect the activities of the organization in our country. In this way, it was detected that another shipment of the narcotic could be underway bound for a Galician port.

Pulpless melons stuffed with cocaine

The participation of the Customs Surveillance Unit of the Vigo Tax Agency, which already maintained special attention on import lines from South America, made it possible to quickly focus the focus on a container of fruit from Brazil that seemed related to the organization. This shipment carried 21 pallets of melons. The physical inspection carried out by Customs Surveillance and the National Police revealed that, inside many of these pallets, the organization was hiding spherical rubber bags containing cocaine. The acting units proceeded to seize a total of 490 kilos of cocaine.

The operation has resulted in the arrest of three people in Portuguese territory, who have been placed at the disposal of the competent judicial authorities, with preventive detention being ordered for one of them.

The case remains open in Spain and new arrests are not ruled out.