The trial began with the identification by the group of judges of all the defendants in the case, with William Cruz and Gurvinder Singh being the only ones to express their desire to give statements in this first trial session at the Lisbon Criminal Court.
Rúben Oliveira, known as Xuxas, the main defendant, said he does not intend, for now, to give statements in court, but may do so later. His wife, Carla Oliveira, and the remaining defendants also said that, at the moment, they do not intend to speak, using the defendants’ prerogative to remain silent.
The presiding judge, Filipa Araújo, decided to begin the interrogation of William Cruz, but in the absence of the remaining defendants in the courtroom, an unusual situation, but one that allows the defendant who decided to speak not to feel coerced by remaining in the courtroom of the remaining defendants. defendants accused and sentenced for crimes of aggravated drug trafficking, criminal association and money laundering, among other crimes.
At the beginning of the trial, lawyer Vítor Parente Ribeiro, defender of “Xuxas”, criticized that there had already been a popular trial, through the media, but the presiding judge interrupted it, asking the lawyer to stick to the facts in the trial and no to considerations of that kind about alleged trials in the public square.
Before, at the entrance to the court and in statements to journalists, Vítor Parente Ribeiro considered that “90 percent of the process (accusation) is fantasy” and accused the media of condemning his constituent in advance.
According to the Public Ministry’s (MP) indictment, the criminal group, led by Rúben Oliveira, had “close links” with drug trafficking organizations in Brazil and Colombia and since mid-2019 had imported large quantities of cocaine from South America.
The organization headed by “Xuxas” had – also according to the accusation – branches in different logistical structures in Portugal, namely near the sea ports of Setúbal and Leixões and at Humberto Delgado airport, in Lisbon, thus allowing it to use its influence to import large quantities of cocaine escaping inspection.
At those landing sites, the PJ carried out cocaine seizures involving defendants who allegedly obeyed Rúben Oliveira’s orders. Cocaine was introduced into Portugal through companies importing fruit and other food and non-food goods, using maritime containers. The drug was also included in travel bags by air from Brazil to Portugal.
The accusation also indicates that the defendants used “encrypted systems typically used by the world’s largest criminal organizations linked to drug trafficking and violent crime” to communicate with each other.
Xuxas, identified by investigators as one of the biggest Portuguese drug traffickers, has been in pre-trial detention in the high-security Monsanto prison since the end of June 2022.
Criminal investigating judge Carlos Alexandre, in an instructional order dated September 29, sent the defendants (16 individuals and three companies) to trial, largely validating the MP’s accusation.
