As part of a surveillance and control action on the coast and territorial sea, to combat international drug trafficking, the Integrated Command and Control Surveillance System (SIVICC) detected, during the night, two vessels with suspicious movements off the Ilhas Barreira.

According to a statement, the GNR mentioned that after these suspected vessels being detected they, “immediately activated the Maritime Surveillance and Interception Teams, with the aim of approaching the suspicious vessels. As a result, the GNR found 40 bales of hash floating in a creek in the Ria Formosa, which are suspected to have been dropped and abandoned by one of the previously detected vessels”.

As a result of the police investigations, 1,370 kg of hashish were seized, totaling a value of about 2,500,000 €.