Eight suspects detained and a considerable amount of drugs seized was the outcome of a large-scale police operation carried out recently in Olhao

Eight suspects detained and a considerable amount of drugs seized was the outcome of a large-scale police operation carried out recently in Olhao and Faro. Thirty police investigators assisted by a team of the PSP Police Special Forces performed nine house searches and confiscated 6,000 individual doses of cocaine, one firearm, 40 mobile phones and 13,500 euros in cash. According to a police source, the suspects were part of an organised crime gang involved in drug trafficking. The same source said the police investigation, which started in February 2007, was able to fully dismantle the operation. A spokesman said: “This police operation’s objective was not only to dismantle this drug trafficking gang but also to target other criminal activities related to drugs consumption like petty thefts and robberies to villas and apartments.” The eight suspects who were detained are aged between 22 and 45. This police operation followed a similar one which was carried out a few days earlier in the Portimao area. Officers were able to detain 12 suspects and seize 3,800 individual doses of cocaine, 5,800 doses of heroin, as well as 5,300 euros in cash and a considerable amount of stolen jewellery and other goods worth several hundreds of thousands of euros, which the police believe were stolen. In a press release, Faro PSP police said that three house searches were performed in the Bairro do Palacio area, a place where the authorities believe drug-dealing activities were frequently taking place. During the first four months of 2008, the police have already detained 33 suspects in that same area of Portimao.