Portugal's Judicial Police (PJ) in Coimbra have arrested the head of a Tax and Customs office in central Portugal, along with two women and a businessman, on suspicion of running a fraudulent scheme to regularise the status of undocumented migrants.
On Tuesday, 7 July, officers carried out 16 searches in the areas of Cantanhede, Pombal, Alcobaça, and Porto, seizing computer equipment, three firearms, and around €50,000 in cash.
The suspects are being investigated for alleged offences including facilitating illegal immigration, membership of a criminal organisation involved in illegal immigration, corruption, money laundering, and document forgery. The investigation, launched in September 2025, found that the group had been fraudulently securing legal residency for thousands of foreign nationals in Portugal over a number of years.
In a statement, the PJ said the suspects were "motivated by the prospect of substantial financial gain" and employed "sophisticated methods designed to conceal their activities and deceive various Portuguese state institutions".
According to investigators, the migrants paid large sums of money to obtain the documentation required to support their residency applications. Many of them were in fact living and working in other European countries, despite being registered with the Portuguese Tax Authority and Social Security system as carrying out professional activities in Portugal.
During the operation, officers also arrested a man caught in possession of a prohibited firearm.
All the suspects are due to appear before an investigating judge for an initial judicial hearing, where the coercive measures to be imposed will be decided.
Source: JN
Photo credit: Carlos Carneiro
