After the initial ‘determination’ to reinforce security at Alcoentre’s Vale de Judeus prison – following the day-time jailbreak of five ‘dangerous inmates’ – it transpires that very little actually has moved forwards.
The project to install mobile phone ‘inhibitors’ – meaning mobile phone signals (and those controlling drones) can be ‘shut off’ completely – has still not been concluded, and the construction of watchtowers (which were mothballed by past administrations) is being hampered by zero interest.
Two tenders have been launched since October 2025 (the jailbreak having taken place 13 months before) and neither have elicited any takers.
The first tender (for a sum of up to €418,000) was perhaps ‘too low’, prison authorities concede. But a second, for a value of €495,000, has fallen equally flat.
Now, authorities insist they are “working on a new tender process” – while the long-awaited ‘mobile phone inhibitor’ software is expected to be fully functional ‘soon’.
In the meantime, all five inmates who ‘climbed over prison walls’ in broad daylight with the use of an extendible ladder, have since been recaptured – and no others appear to have tested Vale de Judeus’ security.
Source: noticiasaominuto/ Lusa
