Judicial Police financial director removed after controversial trailer case in Operation Pacoba
Álvaro Pires was removed from his position after the Judicial Police decided not to renew his service commission. He himself admitted having suggested handing over the trailer to Construbarcelos, a company linked to Luís Neves.
Removal at Judicial Police: Álvaro Pires leaves financial direction after trailer case
The financial director of the Judicial Police (PJ), Álvaro Pires, was removed from his position after the institution decided not to renew his service commission. According to tvi.iol.pt, Pires himself also requested not to continue in the role during the transitional period.
According to the current minister of Internal Administration, it was Álvaro Pires himself who suggested that the trailer seized under Operation Pacoba be placed in the custody of Construbarcelos — a company owned by a friend of Luís Neves, who was national director of the PJ at the time. The suggestion was subsequently validated by Neves, citing a lack of alternatives.
Construbarcelos is the same company that carried out renovation work on the residence that Luís Neves owns in the Alentejo, the property where the entire controversy originated, initially related to a tank that would later turn out to be a swimming pool.
Internally, Álvaro Pires acknowledged that it was his own initiative to hand over, on a provisional basis, custody of the trailer containing chemical products to contractor João Carvalho. He himself justified the decision as the best temporary solution for the interests of the State in September 2025, according to CNN Portugal.
The transfer of the material to Construbarcelos was motivated by a set of operational constraints: the Navy demanded the immediate removal of the trailer from its land in Seixal, citing a fire risk due to exposure of the chemical products; the PJ car park in Tires was overcrowded; and the only budget received for destroying the chemicals amounted to 144 thousand euros — funds which the PJ did not have.
It is also Álvaro Pires who is at the source of the confusion surrounding that sum of 144 thousand euros. The amount, which appears to have served as justification for the transfer of the material, actually referred to the entirety of Operation Pacoba rather than merely the destruction of the trailer in question.
The PJ officially confirmed the departure of Álvaro Pires in a clarification note, adding that the director of Innovation and Development Services will also leave his position.
Source: Google News PT