3.7 tonnes of hashish seized from smugglers' boats at Cabanas de Tavira
The GNR's coastal unit seized 3.7 tonnes of hashish at Cabanas de Tavira on 22 March 2020 after following two suspect inflatable boats ashore. The traffickers escaped, abandoning the boats, a van and 113 bales; the judicial police took over the case.
A team from the GNR coastal unit at Vila Real de Santo António spotted two inflatable boats it deemed suspicious and, with the SIVICC coastal surveillance system, followed them until they docked at Cabanas de Tavira on 22 March 2020.[1][2]A van was already waiting on the coast, and the traffickers began loading the bales into it; when they saw the officers they fled.[1][2]
Police confiscated the two boats, the van and 113 bales of hashish weighing 3.7 tonnes, and identified one man believed to have taken part in unloading the drugs.[1][2]The case passed to the PJ criminal police for investigation.[1][2]
Photos and video
Bales of seized hashish displayed by the GNR coastal unitPhoto details
Judicial police arrested a 38-year-old man in the municipality of Olhão after finding about 100 bales of hashish, roughly 4.5 tonnes, hidden in a stolen goods van on a rural property. Police suspect the drug reached the site by sea through the channels of the Ria Formosa, and the man was due before a judge to decide preventive measures.
Four foreign nationals aged 16 to 43 were arrested at Porto das Barcas, São Teotónio, after police intercepted about 1.1 tonnes of hashish pollen moved by fast boat. The joint PJ-GNR Operation Barcas also seized a car with false plates, surveillance cameras and communications gear in house searches.
On 26 October 2026 the Northern Directorate of the Polícia Judiciária arrested a 38-year-old man with no record at a warehouse in Vila Nova de Famalicão and seized about 100 kg of hashish, a large-calibre pistol, a ballistic vest and 16,000 euros. The case began with two postal parcels of cannabis resin from northern Europe.
Portugal's PSP detained seven people and seized 5.8 tonnes of hashish, nine firearms, 580,000 euros in cash and eight boats in an operation around greater Lisbon. A Lisbon court ordered all seven held in preventive detention on 20 October 2025.
