The 54-year-old man, suspected of having organised a drug ring at the port of Quarteira, was intercepted at 12pm at the Castro Marim border, in compliance with a European arrest warrant, the Faro District Prosecutor's Office said in a note published on its website.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP), "the suspect organised the unloading of more than three tonnes of hashish" in September last year, at the fishing port of Quarteira, and has been on the run since then.

The criminal association allegedly led by the detainee was dedicated to drug trafficking between Morocco and Europe, with passage through Portugal.

The man will now appear before the Faro Criminal Court in order to be applied a measure of coercion.