<![CDATA[ Dois funcionários da AT entre os quatro detidos hoje pela PJ na Operação Porthos ]]>

The Judicial Police (PJ) arrested four people this Tuesday, including two employees of the Tax Authority (AT), and named 15 defendants as part of 'Operation Porthos' to combat drug trafficking through national ports.

According to the PJ statement, in addition to four detainees and 15 defendants resulting from the operation, "more than half a million euros in cash, 10 vehicles and five firearms and others were also seized". A judicial source told Lusa that five defendants are AT employees, two of whom were detained.

The PJ carried out searches in the Lisbon metropolitan area and in Setúbal, Sines and Leiria on Tuesday due to suspicions of corruption at ports aimed at the entry of cocaine from Latin America into Europe, the institution announced. In a statement, the PJ said that Operation Porthos "investigates the benefit of criminal organizations dedicated to the export of large quantities of cocaine from Latin America". "These criminal organizations use national seaports as a gateway for narcotic products into the European continent, concealed in various products packaged in containers", added the institution. The investigation is the result of international police cooperation and involves suspicions of active and passive corruption, drug trafficking and money laundering. According to CNN Portugal, the PJ suspects that Tax Authority employees at customs were bribed by the Primeiro Comando da Capital, from Brazil, and Colombian cartels to allow the drugs to pass through. There were 150 inspectors and experts from the PJ on the ground, accompanied by four magistrates from the Public Prosecutor's Office. 32 search warrants were executed, of which 14 were house searches and 18 were non-house searches, to "collect additional evidence".

The investigation will continue, within the scope of an inquiry led by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP) of the Public Prosecutor's Office.