Six pickpockets were arrested within (just) 24 hours in Lisbon, during two separate incidents. The Public Security Police (PSP) described them in a statement available to Notícias ao Minuto.
Thus, on July 14th, the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the Public Security Police, through the Criminal Investigation Division, « arrested four female pickpockets, aged between 27 and 36, on suspicion of committing theft crimes ». The victim was an American tourist visiting the Baixa Pombalina area.
« This group, which recently arrived in Lisbon and was under surveillance on suspicion of coming to Portugal solely to commit thefts, was spotted by investigators wandering around Baixa Pombalina, the most frequented area by tourists in Lisbon, » explains the Public Security Police in the note.
The group « acted in a coordinated manner », which « involved selecting victims, preferably tourists, who were casually strolling around Lisbon, then following them and astutely stealing their belongings. »
The Criminal Investigation Division team, created and specialized for these itinerant phenomena, at 16:30, « detected, tracked, and consequently arrested the four defendants on Rua Augusta, after they stole from the interior of the American tourist’s backpack, her purse, which contained a Louis Vuitton wallet, the amount of 500 euros, 458 US dollars, credit cards, and all her documents. »
All belongings were recovered and returned to the legitimate owner.
Second ‘case’ occurred in Belém
The following day after the above-described situation – on July 15th – at 12:40, the PSP « also arrested two women, aged 27 and 33, on suspicion of attempting robbery. »
The suspects were « known to investigators at least since 2018 for traveling to Portugal with the intent to commit thefts; they were seen following several groups of tourists when they passed through the area and proceeded through the tunnel between Praça do Império and the Padrão dos Descobrimentos and vice versa, even opening some of the backpacks and bags they carried without having stolen anything, » describes the authority further in the same note available to Notícias ao Minuto.
« In the tunnel between Praça do Império and the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, at the entrance to the stairs, they selected a woman of Asian appearance as their victim » and « followed her through the access tunnel to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. »
And how did they commit the crime? The PSP explains: « As the victim was climbing the stairs with her husband, the suspects got close to the victim’s back, and one of the suspects opened the zipper of the bag she was carrying over her shoulder and put her hand inside, rummaging through it, while the other suspect was by her side to conceal her action and to watch out. »
« The victim realized that someone was rummaging through her bag, got frightened, and as she pulled it to check the situation, her bag was tugged at, causing her to lose balance, » at which point « her husband realized what was happening and helped her by also pulling the bag hard enough for the suspect to let go, thus preventing the robbery from being completed, without anything being taken. »
The victim had inside her bag, which she was carrying over her shoulder, a green wallet with documents valued at 60 euros, 210 euros in cash, and an iPhone 15 Pro Max valued at 1,200 euros.
Due to the police witnessing the events and the victim wishing to prosecute the suspects, « both pickpockets were intercepted and arrested by the police officers from this Criminal Investigation Division. »
The detainees were taken to holding rooms to be presented to the competent Judicial Authority for the application of a coercive measure and were notified to appear in court at a later date.
