Leiria Court sentences six for cocaine trafficking hidden in frozen squid
Six defendants received prison sentences of up to nine years for aggravated drug trafficking. The cocaine, valued at €34.5 million, came from Ecuador concealed in frozen squid.
Six convicted in Leiria for network that imported cocaine from Ecuador in frozen squid
The Leiria Court of Justice convicted six of nine defendants on Tuesday to effective prison sentences of up to nine years for the crime of aggravated drug trafficking, according to Google News PT — Crime (pt) reporting based on information from the Lusa agency.
Two of the convicted received the maximum sentence of nine years in prison. One of them accumulated a sentence of eight years and six months for aggravated drug trafficking with two years for possession of prohibited weapons and ammunition. The remaining four defendants were sentenced to eight years in prison, also for aggravated drug trafficking.
A commercial company from Torres Vedras, in the Lisbon district, was also convicted of the same crime and received a fine of 750 days at a daily rate of 250 euros — totalling 187,500 euros. The three remaining defendants were acquitted: the presiding judge justified this by stating that "it was not proved that they had knowledge of the cargo".
The crimes of criminal association and forgery of documents were not proven.
Cocaine concealed in squid pallets, valued at €34.5 million
In total, nine men aged between 26 and 63 years old and a commercial company were tried in Leiria. According to the indictment and disposition documents consulted by Lusa, the defendants were charged with jointly committing the crimes of trafficking and other illicit activities aggravated and criminal association. Two of them also faced charges for possession of prohibited weapons and ammunition; another additionally faced charges for forgery of an authentic document.
The Public Ministry described how the group decided, at least from February 2024, to dedicate itself to purchasing and introducing cocaine into Portugal. The drug was transported by sea in containers from South America — specifically from Ecuador — concealed in pallets with boxes of frozen fish, namely squid. After entering Portugal through Lisbon Port, the shipments were destined for a warehouse of a company in Óbidos, in the Leiria district.
At least seven of the suspects were responsible for removing the cocaine from the pallets and its subsequent distribution throughout the country and Europe, specifically to the Netherlands and with connections to Turkey, according to the Public Ministry's indictment.
The Torres Vedras company, according to the Public Ministry, expanded its Economic Activity Code to include trade in meat and fish precisely to enable the importation of the drug concealed in frozen squid.
More than 1,100 kilogrammes seized by the Judicial Police
The network was dismantled in February 2024 when members of the group were intercepted by the Judicial Police at the warehouse in Óbidos. Expert examination of the seized cocaine determined a net weight of approximately 1,144 kilogrammes, with an estimated value of €34.5 million. The Public Ministry emphasised that, "without taking into account possible cuts to the product, the value would double or triple".
In reading the judgement, the presiding judge stated that the majority of the facts with which the six defendants were charged "were proven". Given that this was a proceeding of special complexity, an additional period of 30 days was approved for the submission of appeals.
Source: Google News PT — Crime (pt)