Portugal’s Judiciary Police have arrested ten suspects, including military personnel, suspected of secretly airlifting and then selling diamonds, gold and drugs while on UN peacekeeping missions.
On Monday, Portuguese authorities conducted massive searches at a hundred locations, which reportedly included a military compound and banks, all across the country as part of a probe into a gemstone and drug-smuggling ring within the country’s military.
Among the suspects are personnel from the Republican National Guard and the Public Security Police who are suspected of having used military airplanes to airlift the precious and illegal goods from the Central African Republic where they were serving as part of the UN peacekeeping.
According to the police, once the diamonds were in Portugal, the suspects then moved them on to Belgium and sold them there. The ill-gotten proceeds were allegedly invested in bitcoin cryptocurrency. It has not been revealed yet how much money the group raked in, though some media outlets mention diamonds being sold at ‘millionaire prices’.
The suspects were also reportedly involved in the drug trade at home.
The Portuguese armed forces have issued a statement in which they confirmed they had first received a tip-off about personnel on international missions being involved in diamond smuggling as early as December 2019.
In an apparent attempt to save face in the international arena, Portugal’s foreign minister pointed out that “he never heard anyone mention the Portuguese forces involved in international missions in any context other than the need to beef up their presence.”
At present, 180 Portuguese peacekeepers are deployed in the resource-rich and war-torn Central African Republic.
UN blue helmets from a number of countries have found themselves at the center of multiple scandals in recent years. Perhaps most shockingly, they have been accused by human rights groups of raping civilians in countries like Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
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source: RT
Împotriva articolelor redacției noastre, persoanele nemulțumite pot formula Contestație în termen de 10 zile de la publicarea articolului, la judecătoria Orășenească nr. 1 München Bayern Deutschland, in conformitate cu Legea federală Germană. Considerăm că nu se pot formula acțiuni la instanțele din România deoarece nici o persoană care activează în trustul nostru nu poate fi extrasă de sub jurisdicția federală germană. Considerăm că redacția noastră nu răspunde în fața autorităților din România ci doar celor federale sau civile germane. deoarece legea română nu are efecte de extraneitate asupra redacției chiar dacă subiectul știrilor face obiectul unor evenimente sau persoane din România și sunt scrise în limba română. Limba română nu este izvor de extraneitate a legii.
