Six arrested in two months at Lisbon Airport over cocaine trafficking from Brazil
The PJ caught three ground-handling workers and an accomplice red-handed with 117 kg of cocaine at Lisbon Airport. It is the sixth arrest in two months over international trafficking.
Four arrested red-handed with 117 kilograms of cocaine at Lisbon Airport
The National Unit for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking of the Judicial Police (UNCTE/PJ) arrested four men red-handed this week at Lisbon Airport, caught removing cocaine from the holds of aircraft coming from Brazil. According to Correio da Manhã, the suspects were transporting 117 kilograms of the drug, freshly unloaded from an aircraft.
The four arrested men include three employees of a ground-handling company — responsible for baggage handling — and a fourth element who acted as a link to remove the cargo from the airport perimeter. The cell had been under investigation for approximately two months, a period during which UNCTE/PJ inspectors maintained discreet surveillance over the group's movements.
Division of tasks in the criminal cell
The scheme operated with a clear division of functions. The three baggage workers were responsible for identifying and removing suitcases marked with cocaine from the holds of aircraft. The fourth element waited outside and was responsible for transporting the drug out of the airport without raising suspicion.
At the time of the arrests, in addition to the 117 kilograms of cocaine, the authorities seized 40,000 euros in cash and three motor vehicles — assets considered external signs of wealth associated with criminal activity. The four suspects were brought before the court and remanded in custody.
Second operation in two months at the same airport
This case is not isolated. In early September, two other ground-handling workers at the same airport had been arrested by the UNCTE/PJ in a scheme with a very similar modus operandi. In that operation, inspectors recovered 110 kilograms of cocaine, in addition to 200,000 euros and several vehicles in the possession of those arrested.
With the four arrests this week, the total rises to six suspects caught at the country's largest airport in just two months, all with links to international drug-trafficking networks. The two cases point to the systematic use of ground-handling sector workers as vectors for introducing drugs into national territory, taking advantage of privileged access to baggage in restricted areas of the infrastructure.
Source: Correio da Manhã