Trafficker sentenced to 9 years for cocaine landing at Lisbon Port
Luís Mayer was sentenced by the Leiria court to nine years in prison and confiscation of 750,000 euros in assets. He collaborated with the PJ by filming an attempted bribery of tax inspectors.
Trafficker filmed bribery of inspectors and receives 9-year sentence in Leiria
The Leiria court condemned Luís Mayer to nine years in prison and payment of a fine of 750,000 euros, to be satisfied through confiscation of assets, according to Correio da Manhã. Mayer is the alleged leader of a trafficking operation that introduced more than one tonne of cocaine from Ecuador into Lisbon Port.
The defendant became central to a broader investigation after agreeing to collaborate with the Judicial Police (PJ). At his own residence in Azeitão, in the municipality of Setúbal, he filmed a video in which he offered 700,000 euros to two tax inspectors so that they would facilitate the landing of the drugs.
The images collected led, according to Jornal de Notícias, to the detention of those two inspectors and three other individuals from the same area, totalling five defendants. All are currently charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption, in a criminal inquiry that is still ongoing.
Luís Mayer's lawyer, Carlos Melo Alves, argued that the collaboration provided by his client should have resulted in a reduced sentence, within a sentencing range of one to ten years. He announced that he would appeal the decision.
In addition to Mayer's conviction, the same proceedings resulted in a second nine-year prison sentence and the application of eight years in prison to four other defendants. Three defendants were acquitted. A company based in Torres Vedras was sentenced to payment of a fine of 187,500 euros.
Source: Correio da Manhã