Officers from the Coastal and Border Control Unit of Portugal's Republican National Guard have seized a Spanish-registered commercial vehicle carrying 2,600 liters of boat fuel near Loulé in the southern Algarve region.
The vehicle was spotted on Wednesday morning parked beside a commercial establishment in the municipality. Inside the van, officers discovered around 70 fuel containers, all of which were confiscated by the police force.
Correio da Manhã reported that no arrests were made during the operation. However, authorities have opened an official investigation to determine the intended final destination of the confiscated fuel.
Law enforcement officials suspect that the fuel was meant to supply high-speed boats involved in drug trafficking, which regularly transport narcotics from the open sea to the Algarve coastline.
Investigation transferred to criminal police
Following the initial seizure, responsibility for the investigation was handed over to the Polícia Judiciária, Portugal's national criminal investigation police agency.
The Republican National Guard, known as the GNR, acts as a gendarmerie force across Portugal, with its Coastal and Border Control Unit monitoring maritime borders and coastal security.
Government crackdown on drug trafficking speedboats
The seizure comes amid broader concerns over Portuguese speedboats integrated into violent drug trafficking networks operating along maritime smuggling routes.
Law enforcement efforts against drug boats intensified following a fatal high-speed pursuit on the Guadiana River along the border between Spain and Portugal, which prompted new legislation targeting speedboats used by narcotics networks.
To combat maritime drug transport, the Portuguese government introduced a ban prohibiting high-speed vessels from operating between 9:00 pm and 7:00 am. Police investigations into coastal supply networks remain ongoing.
