Following an action developed by the Criminal Investigation Squadron, of the Police Division of Ponta Delgada of the PSP, "recently concluded", and aimed at combating drug trafficking, nine people were arrested, with four being held in preventive detention, "as a result of large drug seizures that were in the possession of those targeted”.

According to the PSP communiqué, the investigation “had taken place over several months, during which successive police operations were carried out which allowed us to investigate the way in which the trafficking network operated, from the municipality of Ribeira Grande, following its action to other parishes and municipalities of the island of São Miguel”. Investigators proceeded to seize about three kilos of hashish, one kilo of heroin and several objects directly related to criminal activity, including motor vehicles.

According to the PSP, the drug seized "would be enough for the preparation of more than 18,570 individual doses", which would have as "final destination the consumers of that type of substance". “From the investigations carried out by the PSP, it was possible to gather a wide range of incriminating evidence of the defendants, as co-authors of the crime of drug trafficking and the introduction of significant quantities of different types of narcotics, from the Portuguese mainland, to the island of São Miguel ”, refers to PSP.

For the Azores PSP Regional Command, the investigation and dismantling of this trafficking network, which operated in the northern part of the island of São Miguel, was “one of the most relevant police actions in recent years in the fight against one of the scourges criminal offenses with the greatest impact in the Azores". "Evidence of this is the high number of defendants detained, who had concretely defined roles in the hierarchical and organised criminal structure they were part of, and also the large quantities of narcotics seized", adds the PSP.