Thirteen arrested with fuel for drug boats released due to lack of prosecutors in the Algarve
Thirteen men were arrested in Tavira with 200 jerry cans and a dinghy, but the Public Prosecution Service ordered their release due to the absence of magistrates during judicial holidays.
Judicial holidays leave Sotavento Algarvio without resources to handle detention of suspected drug traffickers
Correio da Manhã reports that in the early hours of Monday, GNR military personnel from Vila Real de Santo António intercepted two vans in Tavira, in the Algarve, which were transporting 200 jerry cans containing approximately five thousand litres of fuel and a rubber dinghy with a motor. The thirteen men approached — of Spanish, Moroccan and Romanian nationality — were arrested. No drugs were found, but the authorities suspect the material was intended to fuel drug boats along the Algarve coast.
Despite spending hours at police facilities, the group was never brought before a criminal investigation judge. The Public Prosecution Service ordered the immediate release of those detained as there was no prosecutor available at the court. The decision was formalised by order, and the suspects are to return to court on 18 September.
Prosecutor justifies absence with overload during holidays
The justification is contained in the order itself. The magistrate in charge explained that "we find ourselves in the midst of judicial holidays when only two prosecutors from the Public Prosecution Service ensure all urgent services for Sotavento Algarvio, an extremely vast territorial area — domestic violence, interrogations, wiretaps, prisoners, cases which cannot in any way wait". The prosecutor added: "Ideally, I would be able to carry out all the services without exceptions, but unfortunately it is not possible." And he concluded by noting that, at the time, "only a single staff member is on duty in the offices of the Public Prosecution Service in Tavira".
Lawyer defends release as "entirely justified"
Pedro Pestana, a lawyer representing the thirteen suspects, considers the release to be "entirely justified". In a statement to Correio da Manhã, Pestana underlined that "although the authorities presume that this seizure is related to trafficking, the truth is that it is merely a suspicion. A bare suspicion, unaccompanied by evidence and proof, is not sufficient to even substantiate an arrest order".
Operation part of a week of seizures in the Algarve
The arrest in Tavira was conducted by the GNR's Coastal and Border Control Unit (UCCF) — the same unit that, the previous weekend, seized five tonnes of hashish in the municipalities of Vila Real de Santo António and Castro Marim and arrested seven men of Moroccan nationality. In that case, all suspects were brought before a judge and were subject to the most serious coercive measure: preventive custody. The contrast with the outcome of the Tavira case highlights the operational limitations of the judicial system during the holiday period.
Source: Correio da Manhã