The 36-year-old Brazilian national was captured at Madrid’s main airport as he prepared to flee to Brazil, and has been handed over to national authorities.
The Judiciary Police (PJ), which released detailed information in a statement on Tuesday, said that the 36-year-old man of Brazilian nationality has now been subjected by a Portuguese investigating judge to preventive custody pending trial; the most serious coercion measure.
According to the PJ, the suspect was the head of a criminal group that was dismantled in July and was “responsible for violent crimes involving valuables, transport vans and other crimes against property in the north of the country”.
In its statement, the PJ explained the group was “a transnational criminal structure, [working] in particular with Spain, for the purpose of crimes against property”.
When he was originally arrested in July, along with seven alleged accomplices, the PJ said that the crimes for which they were indicted were carried out with firearms and allowed them to obtain “very high patrimonial advantages”.
According to the PJ, that “criminal structure” had been operational since 2016 and had a transnational scope.
The alleged leader of the group was then subjected to house arrest, a measure also applied to the other elements detained in the same operation.
“A few days after the application of the coercive measure, the man left his residence and disappeared, having been detected and located in the city of Madrid, at the airport of Barajas, at the time of his embarkation to Brazil, from where he originates,” the PJ elaborated.
His most recent arrest was carried out in fulfilment of a European Arrest Warrant.
The detainee, who is said to have already been convicted in Portugal for crimes against property, is now charged with crimes of criminal association; drug trafficking, robbery and vehicle theft.
In related news, a Peruvian man was recently arrested at Lisbon airport after being found to be carrying one kilogram of drugs in his body.
According to PSP police, the Peruvian citizen felt unwell on a flight bound for Barcelona, which was forced to divert and land in Lisbon.
“In total, about 30 capsules of cocaine were seized, with a total weight of about one kilogram”, a police source said, adding that the arrest occurred on Sunday and the defendant was remanded in custody on suspicion of drug trafficking.