According to the dispatch, to which Lusa had access, judge Carlos Alexandre ordered the preventive detention of 31 defendants, eight of whom could be placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, if the report by the Directorate-General for Reinsertion and Prison Services assessing personal and social conditions is favourable.
The judge’s main reason for pre-trial detention is “the danger of flight”.
The remaining four defendants, all Portuguese, leave free with Term of Identity and Residence (TIR), prohibition of contacts and daily periodic presentations to the authorities.
The 35 defendants, “heavily indicted” for criminal association, human trafficking, money laundering and forgery of documents, among other crimes, were arrested on Wednesday by the Judiciary Police.
The network was formed by foreigners, namely Romanian families, and some Portuguese who gave them support.
This investigation by the PJ began about a year ago and focused on the recruitment by that criminal network of foreign workers with the promise of employment and decent housing.
Pedro Proença, a lawyer for the three defendants, told Lusa that the Public Prosecutor realized that the investigation had not yet ended and that “in the next few days there may be more arrests”.