Stormy weather ‘responsible’ for foiling traffickers
The GNR’s Coastal and Border Control Unit (UCCF) has seized over 93 kilograms of hashish washed ashore in the Algarve as a result of the stormy weather of recent days, the force has announced.
With worsening weather conditions and the intensification of swell, inspections were stepped up in order to “detect and respond to possible trafficking along the coastline”, said the GNR in a statement.
As a result authorities found and seized bales of drugs at two points in the west, and one further east.
The first two came on Monday – first in Rebolos/Burgau, in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, where a patrol found “a bulky object near the surf”, later confirmed “to be a burlap bale with a narcotic product inside”.
Later, a tip-off about the presence of “another burlap bale” on Maretta beach, in Sagres, led the GNR to confirm the existence of a “second bale containing narcotics, accompanied by a jerry can containing 25 litres of fuel.”
The third seizure was made on Tuesday at Vale da Lapa beach, in the municipality of Lagoa, where “several packages were found near the surf (that) contained narcotics”,
In all, the two days’ haul came to 93.6 kgs of hashish.
Source material: LUSA
