A 53-year-old man was arrested today by the GNR for possession of prohibited ammunition in an operation to slaughter 540 animals at Herdade da Torre Bela, in Azambuja, which police announced today.
The GNR statement added that several documents were also seized in the districts of Lisbon, Santarém and Portalegre.
The operation being carried out today is related to the investigation of an incident that took place in Herdade da Torre Bela, in Azambuja, in the Lisbon region, in December 2020, during which about 540 animals were killed, including deer and wild boars, and which caused a lot of controversy.
According to the GNR, several documents related to the investigation were seized during this operation, and a 53-year-old man was detained for possession of ammunition of a prohibited caliber.
The detainee will now be heard in the first judicial questioning for enforcement, and GNR did not say if other defendants were already involved in the process.
The GNR note added that the operation was carried out by the Lisbon Territorial Command through the Center for Investigation of Environmental Crimes and Offenses (NICCOA) under the direction of the Department of Investigations and Criminal Affairs (DIAP) of the northern part of Lisbon, which executed 14 search warrants, including six households and eight companies, in the areas of Lisbon, Santarem and Portalegre.
During the action, the criminal investigation structure of the territorial offices of Lisbon, Santarem and Portalegre GNR was strengthened and with the support of the PSP.
On December 24, 2020, Herdade da Torre Bela, where 540 animals had been slaughtered a few days before, exonerated the Lusa agency of any responsibility for what happened, rejecting the “illegal” way in which the hunt was carried out on its territory, and announced that it considers the possibility of resorting to justice to compensate for the damage caused.
In a statement, Herdade da Torre Bela guaranteed that it was not responsible for what happened, arguing that “this is not the organization that used the aforementioned hunt, nor did it organize or participate in it directly or indirectly.”
In the same note, the estate strongly denied “the wrong, illegal and abusive way in which the hunt was carried out”, also stating that it knew about the killing of animals “a posteriori” and only through the media.”
Source: CM Jornal
