U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 - Portugal
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Author | Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism |
| Publication Date | 30 April 2007 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 - Portugal, 30 April 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4681086723.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Portugal supported international efforts to combat terrorist networks and actively pursued indications of extremist group activity in Portugal. Portuguese government agencies took steps to minimize exploitation of its financial sector and to maintain the integrity of its passports and other documents.
On November 14, Portugal's Judicial Police (PJ) simultaneously executed 48 search warrants on small currency exchange operations. The effort, in cooperation with the Bank of Portugal, was intended to investigate money laundering operations with links to Lusophone Africa and South Asia that could be exploited by extremist organizations. The investigation into the "mixed Hawala" system netted equipment, documents, and over 300,000 Euros, but no arrests. Portugal announced it would restructure the Judicial Police to create four major operational commands regarding terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, and technological investigation.
In August, Portugal began issuing biometric passports with greater protections than previous iterations. In addition to the additional security features, the new Portuguese passport law passed July 16 centralized the production of all passports to counter the fraudulent acquisition of Portuguese documents by criminal and extremist organizations. Portugal maintained its active participation in both the Proliferation Security Initiative and the Container Security Initiative.
