There is a long, squeaky white leather sofa with gold trim on the fifth floor of the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters in Lisbon, seized from a high-profile suspect of international cocaine trafficking in Portugal. Artur Vaz’s office, director of the National Unit to Combat Drug Trafficking of the PJ, is at the end of the hallway on this floor.
A collection of illicit drugs is framed on the wall – magic mushrooms, heroin and hashish. But it is cocaine that most haunts European authorities and this is the man leading Portugal’s elusive battle against international drug trafficking
The UN Global Cocaine Report of 2023 identifies the coast of Portugal and the islands, as well as the ports of Lisbon and Setúbal, as gateways to the EU. The number of tons seized increases each year. Has the operational efficiency of the PJ improved or has the volume trafficked increased?
There has been an exponential increase in production in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. This has led to an increase in illicit flows and shipments to Europe and the USA. This is a growing drug. Europe has become the main consumer market for this substance, and it is a more important and lucrative market for drug trafficking than the USA; criminal organisations want profit. European authorities have stepped up and become more effective in the fight against this disease. This type of trafficking leads to other types of crime: violent crime, corruption and money laundering. In Portugal, investigations into international trafficking are always the responsibility of the Judiciary.
Source: expresso.pt
