The arrests followed a coastal surveillance operation.
Eight men aged between 22 and 50 were arrested on Thursday after being ‘caught’ in a place closed to the public while trying to put a high-speed boat, which they had transported to the location, into the water of the river Sado, in Setúbal.
The arrests took place following a coastal surveillance operation, in which soldiers from the National Republican Guard (GNR) “detected the suspects entering a place closed to the public”, the authority said in a statement sent to the press.
The individuals “were surprised and fled the scene”, but were eventually apprehended and detained.
It was also possible to seize the high-speed boat, as well as 8,000 liters of fuel, a tractor and galley (which transported the boat), and various electronic equipment and navigation devices.
This was an action by the Coastal and Border Control Unit, through the Mobile Surveillance Detachment.