Algarve coast requires “special attention” due to drug trafficking

According to the annual report, the main threats to Portugal in terms of drug trafficking are currently the trafficking of cocaine by air and sea and the trafficking of hashish, by sea and in this case "more concentrated on the Algarve and Vincentian coast", with the Algarve coast "an area that requires special attention from the authorities in preventive and repressive terms" due to the high number of recorded occurrences.

Transit platform

According to the report, Portugal is currently a "transit platform for large amounts of hashish from Morocco, and cocaine from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia", due to the country's geographical position and relations with Latin America, namely Brazil.

The criminal networks that operate in drug trafficking stand out for their high levels of organisation "holding great technological capabilities and strong financial power, often having logistical support cells on national territory that facilitate their introduction into the European space" .

The RASI also mentions that criminal groups based in Spain use national waters to maintain high-speed boats used to transport drugs, with the authorities having seized more than 20 such vessels in 2021.