Drug trafficking network dismantled in Sintra: six arrested and weapons seized
The Judiciary Police arrested six suspects and seized approximately 2,500 doses of drugs, two firearms and two vehicles in Sintra. The network had been operating for at least two years across several neighbourhoods in the municipality.
Police operation dismantles criminal drug trafficking structure in Sintra
The National Unit for Combating Drug Trafficking of the Judiciary Police (PJ) has dismantled a drug trafficking network operating across several neighbourhoods in Sintra municipality, the authority announced on Thursday. Six suspects, aged between 21 and 44 years old, were arrested as part of the operation.
According to Correio da Manhã, the investigation revealed an organised criminal structure that had been in operation for at least two years, engaged in the acquisition, preparation, cutting, weighing, packaging and sale of narcotics destined for a large number of consumers in peripheral urban areas of Sintra.
Drugs, weapons and vehicles seized
With the support of canine teams from the PSP, the PJ seized cocaine, hashish and MDMA, totalling approximately 2,500 doses. In the same operation, two firearms were also recovered, a sum of money and two vehicles used in the criminal activity.
The PJ described, in a statement, that the network had not only drugs but also "means, instruments and assets liable to be related to criminal activity, including firearms, money and vehicles".
Strategy against trafficking in residential areas
The PJ emphasises that it is pursuing a strategy to combat drug trafficking, with particular focus on structures responsible for the regular distribution of drugs to local communities.
The institution stresses that this type of criminality "constitutes a criminal phenomenon with direct impact on public safety", and can "contribute to the deterioration of security conditions and to the worsening of situations of social vulnerability", especially in residential areas and neighbourhoods where drug sales occur on a systematic basis.
Source: Correio da Manhã