During an operation carried out by the Maritime Police on the morning of December 11. in the area of Samouco Beach, around 500 persons have been identified. Samouco Beach is situated in the municipality of Setúbal.
The operation had been carried out by the Maritime Police through the local command of the Polícia Marítima based in Lisbon with the support of the SIS (Security & Information Service), according to information given by the AMN (National Maritime Authority). Around 100 agents were mobilized, including personal of the Tactical Group and the Central Criminal Investigation Unit.
Following a previous operation that had been carried out last June, the aim was to ensure public safety of citizens and locals but most of all to identify people involved in human trafficking and its networks, and also combating illegal harvest at the Tagus River border.
The June operation resulted in legal proceedings against 10 persons for illicit capture, trade and trafficking internationally with bivalves (a class of marine and freshwater molluscs). During the operation 3 Portuguese citizens and one Vietnamese were arrested, 249 immigrants were taken into temporary custody.
More than two years of investigation and work by the Central Criminal Investigation Unit of the Maritime Police were resulting in 30 executed search warrants, seizures and detentions in Montijo, Almada, Samouco and Setúbal.