The detainees, aged 22 and 27, kidnapped a man in Quarteira in the municipality of Loulé at the beginning of July.
The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested two men suspected of attempted murder and other violent crimes against members of rival groups in the Algarve, using a bladed weapon and a firearm, the police force reported this Sunday.
According to the PJ, the two detainees, aged 22 and 27, are suspected of committing a total of three crimes of attempted murder, two crimes of kidnapping, three crimes of aggravated robbery, one crime of possession of a prohibited weapon and a crime of aggravated threat.
Following the first court interrogation, they were put under preventive detention.
The crimes occurred in Faro and Loulé between June and August this year “in an escalation of extreme violence, which ended up generating a feeling of unrest among the population”, says the police force.
The PJ reported that the detained individuals were part of rival groups that were primarily engaged in criminal activities related to the control of drug trafficking areas.
The “escalation of violence” began at the beginning of June, in the centre of the city of Faro, when, during the day, “one of the detainees fired a weapon, targeting a member of a rival group, without hitting him”, describes the PJ.
Days later, on July 10, the detainees, acting together, “kidnapped a man, removing him from his residence, in Quarteira, Loulé, and transported him to a remote location”, where they stole his personal belongings, assaulted him with a knife and shot him.
The victim managed to escape but required medical attention, police added.
In the city of Faro, in August, the detainees engaged in a series of incidents using bladed weapons and firearms, including robberies, making death threats, and assaulting victims left requiring hospital assistance.
“Two of the situations occurred following an altercation between both detainees, with one of them also needing hospital assistance, including hospitalisation”, reports the PJ.
The arrests were made by the police force’s Southern Directorate “in close collaboration with the Faro PSP Command.”
