Five arrested for kidnapping and torture with blowtorch in Cascais, PJ seizes 7 kg of cannabis
The PJ detained five men in Sintra for kidnapping and torturing a victim in Cascais in April. The suspects posed as police officers and demanded money as ransom.
Men kidnap and torture victim with blowtorch in Cascais, PJ makes five arrests
The National Counter-Terrorism Unit of the Judicial Police arrested five men in Sintra on Thursday, suspected of kidnapping and torturing a man in Cascais in April of this year. According to Correio da Manhã, the detainees posed as police officers and demanded a substantial sum of money or drugs as a condition for the victim's release.
The facts date back to the night of 5 April 2026. The victim, an adult man, was approached near his residence in Cascais, pursued and forced to enter a vehicle through violence. Over several hours, he was transported between different locations, kept bound, gagged and deprived of his liberty, the PJ describes in a statement.
During the kidnapping, the victim was repeatedly assaulted and subjected to burns caused by a gas blowtorch and an electric plate, whilst the suspects demanded he hand over a large sum of money or narcotic substances as ransom. In the end, he was abandoned in the Rio de Mouro area in Sintra and required hospitalisation due to the extensive and serious burns and other injuries suffered.
Seizures include vest with police inscriptions and seven kilogrammes of cannabis
In searches carried out, the PJ seized the two blowvtorches used in the assaults, communication equipment, over one thousand euros in cash and an alarm pistol. Also found were a ballistic vest, a vest with inscriptions alluding to police entities and a rotating blue light identical to those used by security forces — material that is believed to have been used to simulate a police operation.
Seven kilogrammes of cannabis resin were also seized, a quantity sufficient to make approximately 30,000 individual doses.
The five suspects, all of Portuguese nationality and aged between 29 and 42 years, are charged with the crimes of aggravated kidnapping, attempted extortion, serious qualified offences to bodily integrity and robbery, as well as drug trafficking offences. They will be presented to a judge for the application of coercive measures.
Source: Correio da Manhã