The GNR and the Judicial Police (PJ) arrested this Tuesday, October 28th, two suspects of having been involved in the collision of a GNR vessel, using a speedboat, causing the death of a Guard soldier.
Apparently, the two suspects were already referenced for drug trafficking in Spain. After their arrest, they were handed over to the PJ for interrogation. The suspects They were arrested when they tried to cross a bridge, in a Spanish-registered car, on their way to the neighboring country. They allegedly had “large amounts of money” in their possession.
The origin of the arrests is the intersection of a speedboat, in the Alcoutim area, detected by the GNR on Monday night, at 11:15 pm, through its coastal management system. When they were intercepted, the suspects rammed the Guarda vessel, causing the death of the soldier and injuries to three other operatives. This boat would later be found about four kilometers further on, abandoned and on fire. The suspects fled, and two of them have now been arrested.
Heard by DN, Luís Matos, GNR soldier and coordinator of the southern region of the Association of Guard Professionals (APG), states that “putting more human resources” at the disposal of the National Republican Guard (GNR) could “help” situations like the one on Monday night, in Alcoutim, become “less serious”.
As Carlos Canatário, GNR spokesperson told DN, “there is no information” about the origin and destination of this fast boat. However, the way of working associated with drug trafficking raises two hypotheses: “Normally, when it comes to cocaine, these boats come from South America, transferring in the Atlantic. If it is hashish trafficking, they will come from North Africa, passing the narcotic product from a larger vessel, in the Mediterranean, to these boats that then try to enter Europe through this route.” When asked about the matter, o The person responsible did not want to offer any possibilities about what happened to the drugs in this case.
Before fleeing, the suspects were stranded on the riverbank, with the boat catching fire shortly afterwards. Could this be suspected arson? Luís Matos, from APG and colleague of Pedro Manata Silva at the Olhão Coastal and Border Control Unit, does not rule out this possibility: “I can’t answer that, but normally, in these cases, the vessels come from the high seas, disembark [da droga] both in the Guadiana and on the Pedras riverin Spain, they burn the boat and then escape”.
According to the GNR soldier, This type of situation could be handled better if there were greater cooperation and resources available to the guard. “This is a type of service that you don’t usually see and it only happens when there is a major seizure or, as in this case, an accident. The work is always done in cooperation with the Spanish side and the Guardia Civil. Yesterday [segunda-feira]as soon as the alert was sent, they put a helicopter in the air. Something that did not happen on our side. The GNR doesn’t have any aircraft and I didn’t see one from the Air Force coming to help”, criticizes Luís Matos, who adds that the vessel mobilized by the GNR “was completely destroyed and will be of no use”.
According to the newspaper Huelva Newspaperthe case “mobilized a large device” to the field, consisting of “35 personnel and 14 emergency vehicles”.
Marcelo enacted law hours after the incident
Hours after this case, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated a diploma that regulates the use of speedboats to combat drug trafficking.
By changing this area – whose legislation had been in force since 1990, stipulating only circulation rules -, This diploma now provides for a penal framework of between one and four years in prison for “whoever transports, imports or exports” speedboats or “enters or leaves the national territory” in them. without authorization from the Tax and Customs Authority. Furthermore, Anyone who wants to build or modify high-speed vessels will have to submit the projects to the General Directorate of Natural Resources, Security and Maritime Services. Failure to do so could result in a prison sentence of up to two years. The same penal framework applies to crew members who carry more fuel than permitted on one of these vessels.as well as if they try to ‘camouflage’ them near radars using paint or electronic devices.
Fines are also increased up to a maximum of 25 thousand euros for individuals. If they are legal entities, this amount can reach up to 100 thousand euros.
Interception and abandonment increasingly common
In APG’s opinion, changing the law may not be enough. Luís Matos exemplifies that “Spain also changed the law and just look at their case”. According to the soldier from the Olhão Coastal and Border Control Unit, “there continue to be interceptions every day” in Spanish waters. Therefore, there is only one solution: “Give us more means to combat this issue.”
Even so, interceptions of this type of fast boats, whose production has a low associated cost, have become frequent. For example, in February 2024, two Guardia Civil agents died after seeing their patrol boat being rammed by one of these vessels. According to the Efe news agency at the time, around six drug traffickers’ boats took refuge from a storm in the port of Barbate, in the Cádiz area, in southern Spain. When approached by the authorities of that country, the criminals rammed the Guardia Civil ship, passing over it and victimizing the operatives.
Furthermore, in recent times the number of abandoned boats washing up on the coast in Portugal has increased. In June this year, for example, authorities found one of these vessels in Trafaria, at the mouth of the Tagus, with diving suits on board.
Months later, in August, the National Maritime Authority (ANM) intercepted two semi-rigid vessels next to the Vasco da Gama Bridge, with 22 tons of fuel on board. After the pursuit carried out with the support of the marines, the vessels were seized.
The crew members – eight, in total, of Spanish and Colombian nationalities – were detained. Once heard in court, they were made defendants and were released.
Speedboats are “almost artisanal”
The boat intercepted in Guadiana is similar to others intended for drug trafficking. According to GNR sources heard by DN, the profile is clear: They are “almost artisanal” crafts, with a “low” production cost. They are built as semi-rigids and also have “three or four engines, with 350 horsepower each”, which allows them to travel long distances and reach other vessels on the high seas. Despite being easily constructed, these boats “are robust” and are intended “only for this function”. Therefore, traffickers “have no problem” getting rid of the vessels, if necessary.