Police officers are suspected of adding drugs to the assets seized from prisoners to justify arrests. The detainees were then attacked and humiliated at the police station.
According to the report, the PSP agents suspected of torture at the Rato Police Station will also have manipulated evidence to justify arrests and aggravate charges.
Among those targeted are agents Guilherme L., Gonçalo R., David O. and João M., the latter a graduate of the service, accused of adding drugs to seized goods to two immigrants detained for possession of drugs.
One of the cases investigated occurred in July 2024, in Bairro Alto, in Lisbon. Two agents approached a Gambian citizen and seized small quantities of hashish, without producing any news report. The man was initially sent away, but later ended up intercepted again in Cais do Sodré and taken to the Rato Police Station.
According to the evidence collected, already at the police station the detainee was handcuffed to a bench, attacked with punches and butts and subjected to an act of humiliation when he asked for water, and water was poured down his nose. The investigation indicates that, to formally justify the arrest, one of the agents added ecstasy tablets to the drug initially seized.
Another episode occurred in February last year and involved a Brazilian citizen, who was chased and taken to the police station for possession of five grams of hashish. The man will have been attacked and the agents will have added more drugs to the seized material to support the accusation. The victim needed five days of sick leave.
The Public Ministry’s investigation has already revealed several alleged cases of violence and humiliation of inmates at the Rato Police Station. Police officers also often filmed the attacks and shared the videos in groups on WhatsApp.
In total, they have already been 24 agents detained as part of the investigation, including two bosses suspected of participating in and covering up the attacks. On Thursday night, 14 agents were still being questioned by a criminal investigation judge. A police officer and a civilian were released after being illegally detained, while agent Mário Vaz Maia, brother of singer Nininho Vaz Maia, remained in custody.
