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[SITUATION] · [ACTIVE]

3 clusters · 5 sources · 20 days · First seen · Last updated

Categories: CRIME

Portugal contractor kidnapping and extortion case

Entities: Polícia Judiciária · Leiria · Torres Vedras · André Ventura · CHEGA

Overview

In December 2024 a Portuguese contractor was lured to Torres Vedras with a fake job offer, kidnapped for three hours and threatened with a €40,000 demand. After he escaped, the same group struck again in April 2025, abducting the contractor and his wife at their home in Leiria and repeating threats and extortion, prompting a €16,000 payment before the perpetrators fled.

In July 2026 the National Counter‑Terrorism Unit of the Polícia Judiciária arrested two women and a man, aged 29 to 37, on charges of kidnapping, extortion, robbery and aggravated assault, linking them to the earlier attacks. The operation also saw police deploy a team to investigate alleged vandalism at the parliamentary office of Chega leader André Ventura, unrelated to the kidnapping case.

The arrests confirm the suspects’ involvement in the two abductions and the extortion demands, while the parallel vandalism probe remains ongoing.

Timeline

  1. about 16 hours ago

    [CRIME] 2 sources
    Portugal Police Detain Kidnapper Trio and Probe Alleged Parliament Office Vandalism

    Portuguese police arrested a kidnapping‑extortion trio linked to attacks in Torres Vedras and Leiria, and also investigated alleged vandalism in Chega leader André Ventura’s parliamentary office.

  2. 2 days ago

    [CRIME] 4 sources
    Kidnapping and Extortion of Portuguese Contractor Results in Arrests

    A contractor was kidnapped twice in Portugal over a false €40,000 debt claim; three suspects were arrested for kidnapping, extortion and assault.

  3. 21 days ago

    [CRIME] 2 sources
    Portugal police detain two men for kidnapping, assault and forced apology video in Sintra

    Two men were arrested in Sintra after robbing a home, kidnapping the victim and forcing him to film an apology video under gun threat.

Sources

comercioenoticias.pt · observador.pt · rr.pt · sage.com · shorediving.com

This summary has been updated 1 time: see revision history