A BULLET-PROOF security van transporting an undisclosed sum of money was robbed near the Aljustrel service station, in the county of Beja, Alentejo, along the A2 motorway, during the early hours of Wednesday morning, August 20.
The vehicle, belonging to security company Prosegur, was transporting money to refill cash machines in the Algarve when it was made to stop by three cars in the fast lane of the motorway.
During the robbery, one car allegedly overtook the security van, forcing it into the left hand lane and shooting the front windscreen before shooting two tyres.
A second car pulled up alongside the security vehicle and a third car stopped behind, blocking it in, before explosives were placed on the back doors.
A spokesman for the GNR said that the robbery was carried out by five armed people.
According to Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã, the robbers were of French and Italian nationality and were known to the police and suspected of carrying out armed robberies in the Algarve in 2001. However, this had not been confirmed by the Polícia Judiciária (PJ).
Two Prosegur employees were in the van at the time of the robbery, one of whom was taken to hospital to be treated for light injuries, while the other was unharmed.
After the robbery, a 200-metre stretch of the left-hand, fast lane of the motorway was closed for around eight hours while the PJ investigated the crime scene.
A spokesman for the PJ told The Resident: “We are currently investigating this case, which has been put under the secrecy of justice.”
The security van was towed to the company headquarters in Évora that same day.
A spokesman for Prosegur said: “The company is very sad about what happened. It is a clear sign of the new types of crimes that are emerging in Portugal.”
The spokesman also described the crime as “particularly unusual and violent”.
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