GNR traffic police are to ‘strengthen control’ on Portugal’s roads to cope with the increase in traffic during the Christmas period.
Operation ‘Natal Tranquilo’ is the deceptively cuddly name for a rota of GNR patrols and roadside checks with a daily average of 1,300 officers on the job with financial targets to meet.
The operation runs from today, Tuesday December 2nd to Sunday the 28th.
The police will be concentrating on main routes leading to and from the north where there is a traditional increase in traffic from Tuesday afternoon onwards, with a peak tomorrow morning.
The police will focus on drivers speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and other substances, driving without the correct documents, road traffic offenses and anything else that can render drivers’ wallets lighter.
The GNR were getting into the Christmas spirit last weekend with 151 arrests, including 103 for driving under the influence of alcohol, the arrest of a suspected murderer and dozens of drivers carrying illegal weapons.
A total of 2,408 tickets were issued for offenses relating to the whole gambit of driving laws with 6,454 drivers stopped and 2,392 violations detected.
Over the weekend the GNR seized pleasing amounts of cocaine, enough hashish for precisely 5,510 joints, 7.9 grammes of marijuana, 25 tabs of LSD, 10.2 grammes of MDMA, 1.6 grams of amphetamines, six guns, six knives, 645 bullets of various calibers, and a surprisingly modest €252 in cash.
You have been warned...
Comments
Must haul you over the coals for this implication, a slur on these GNR guardians against mayhem... a surprisingly modest €252 in cash.
Are we to assume that much more than this was actually seized but that the drivers concerned - after being separated from their cash - were told to drive on ... with a cheerful Feliz Natal ringing in their ears?
Portugal's core problem here is three fold. A Salazarista approach to control and distrust of the population by the police, a backward population in its attitude to insurance and servicing of vehicles .... and Portugal's long held strategic focus on new cars and not encouraging the repair of old ones.
So scrap yards / vehicle dismantler's are seriously discouraged. Only elite families are allowed to run them and therefore prices of parts rocket.
A damaged tail light assembly on an older car then ending up as uneconomic to repair. Then you risk a run in with the GNR.
(Owner of old Renault 5 needing a tail light assembly)