Police investigating allegations that Portuguese troops stationed with a UN peacekeeping force in Central African Republic used military planes to smuggle diamonds, drugs and gold back into Europe have executed 100 search warrants and raided scores of addresses across Portugal.
Monday’s operation, which involved 320 officers from the country’s judicial police, came almost two years after a commander was tipped off about the alleged smuggling network. The military has also stepped up checks and inspections of military flights from CAR.
“What we are looking into now is the possibility that some soldiers taking part in the national detached force in CAR were used as couriers in the trafficking of diamonds, gold and drugs,” the army said in a statement.
The judicial police served 10 arrest warrants as they raided properties in Lisbon, Funchal, Bragança, Porto de Mós, Entroncamento, Setúbal, Beja and Faro.
“A criminal network with international connections is under investigation, which is dedicated to obtaining illicit profits through diamond and gold smuggling, drug trafficking, counterfeiting and passing of counterfeit currency,” the force said in a statement. Officers are also examining allegations of computer fraud and money laundering.
Portugal’s foreign minister, Augusto Santos Silva, said that while alleged offences should never have been committed, Portugal continued to make an important and “well-recognised” contribution to international security.
Santos Silva, who has also served as defence minister, said the investigation should not damage the Portuguese military’s international standing. “Whether as defence minister or foreign minister, the only thing I’ve heard about Portuguese forces deployed on international peace missions is requests for us to continue and strengthen our presence,” he said.
A total of 180 Portuguese soldiers are deployed in CAR as peacekeepers. The UN mission there is known by its French acronym, Minusca.
Central African Republic is rich in gold, diamonds and other minerals, but beset by poverty, conflict and sectarian violence.
The alleged smuggling ring is not the only scandal to hit the Portuguese military in recent years. In 2018, the country’s defence minister, Jose Azeredo Lopes, resigned but denied any wrongdoing amid an investigation into a suspected army cover-up of a huge weapons theft the previous year.
In July 2017, investigators discovered that hand grenades, anti-tank grenades, plastic explosives and more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition had been stolen from the Tancos military complex, 60 miles (100km) north-east of Lisbon.
Prosecutors initially suspected that international arms traffickers and terrorist groups had stolen the weapons and taken them out of the country, but military police recovered them a few months later.
Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report
