The arrests were made as part of operation “Imperfechtus” and were carried out in the municipalities of Beja and Mértola, in the district of Beja, and in Portel and Viana do Alentejo, in the district of Évora.

Of the 21 detainees, 18 are men and three are women, a source from the GNR's Évora Territorial Command told Lusa.

The police operation, as part of an investigation into drug trafficking that had been taking place since December 2019, was carried out by the Criminal Investigation Center (NIC) of Évora, this morning.

“The GNR carried out several police investigations that made it possible to establish that the suspects were acting in an organised and hierarchical way, selling the narcotic product to other individuals who were also dedicated to trafficking, as well as to consumers, causing a feeling of insecurity among the population”.

The GNR enacted 35 search warrants, 16 at homes, one in an establishment and 18 in vehicles, which culminated in the arrest of 18 suspects.

The GNR now consider that “an organized drug trafficking network that operated in several locations in the municipalities of Beja, Évora and Lisbon” had been dismantled.

In addition to these 18 detained suspects, the police “also arrested three men for drug trafficking who were associated with this investigation”.

A total of 92,000 doses of hashish, “approximately 46 kilos”, were seized in this operation, as well as a ballistic vest, nine vehicles, a cylinder of nitrous oxide gas and two firearms.

Of the 21 detainees, six have a criminal record for crimes of the same nature, added the security force.