LISBON: Portuguese anti Narcotics force on Wednesday announced the seizure of 850 kilograms of hashish in Vilamoura, in the borough of Loulé in the Algarve, in an operation that also saw the arrest of three men, all foreign nationals.
The seizure followed a “complex investigation” lasting several months by the Portimão office of the main criminal investigation force, the Polícia Judiciária. According to the PJ, an eight-metre rubber dinghy left the Algarve coast, bound for Spain, on Monday, but was intercepted by the authorities off Vilamoura, with the help of the coastal unit of the local GNR gendarme force. The drugs were hidden inside the shell of the craft.
During the operation, two off-road vehicles were also seized, as well as some €2,300 and communications equipment. The three men, who are aged between 20 and 42, are too brought before a judge for questioning and to determine whether they will be held on remand.