In a case with 11 other defendants, three others were also sentenced to effective sentences (between five years and eight months and six years in prison) and five to suspended sentences (two years to four years and four months), the remaining three being acquitted.
The police officer Dino was one of three defendants arrested by the PSP itself on the night of 7 July 2019, in the service area of Montijo, on the A13, south-northerly, when they were returning from Spain with about 120 kilos of hashish, worth approximately 150,000 Euros.
The Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) charges that, since May 2018, four of the defendants, including the police officer, at the time stationed at the Gondomar police station, "have set up a criminal organisation with a view to, on a long-term basis, marketing narcotic products, namely hashish", to be sold in the Metropolitan Area of Porto.
According to the MP, the group contacted "individuals in Spain" from whom they bought hashish for 750 Euros a kilogram, to sell it in Portugal for 1,250 Euros.
For the MP, between May 2018 and July 2019, the month in which they were arrested, the four main defendants made at least 27 trips "in which they managed to transport, on their return [from Spain], large quantities of hashish [between 30 and 60 kilograms at a time, which they then marketed and distributed to third parties".
Following the investigation carried out on the defendant Bernardino ('Dino') Mota, it was found that there were 'assets inconsistent with their lawful income', which is why the MP is asking for almost 185,000 Euros to be returned to the State.
Absolutely shocking. People ought to be able to trust a serving police officer. Just glad they caught and sentenced him.
By Billy Bissett from Porto on 08 Jan 2021, 19:30