My son got arrested in Portugal for the Transport of Maruhuana by boat. His penalty is 8.5 years imprisonment. I heard that the law change in 2008 that for transporting the penalty shuould be in between 1-5 years. Is that correct?Thanks for your answer
Optional Information: State/Country relating to Question: Spain Already Tried: I looked for the codico penal Pottugal 2008, book 3 /23 and could not find anything.
Transporting drugs will fall under several sections of the Portuguese criminal code depending on: 1) whether the quantity transported/held is for personal use or not 2) if he was arrested and convicted of being a member of a criminal organization or not 3) Whether he had previous convictions, of any kind, related to drug trafficking or use. All in all, depending on the exact circumstances of his arrest, he could face between 1 year and 15 years in jail.
Hallo, thanks for your answer! To clarify the case: he was only the skipper of the boat which carried, without his exact knowledge, 3000 Kg. of Marihuana. He was neither part of the buying or selling of the drugs nor was he sharing (or promised to) the money involved. Blue-eyed he did a "favour" for a "friend" and was happy for the normal fee of €80.000 for his services, sailing the boat. He himself has never taken drugs or was involved in dealing. His sentence in 2009 is based on the law from 1993, in 2007/8 this law got changed, seperating TRANSPORT only and dealing! In his case it was TRANSPORT!Thank tou in advance for your answer,kind regards Ursula
I gather the judges ruled that the fee he was paid was above normal chartering fees and implied that he was sharing in the proceeds of the drug dealing. Considering that 3000 kilos of marijuana is a heavy cargo, they probably considered that he could not possibly have ignored it. The judges have full appreciation of whether a transporter is a mere transporter or is part of the drug dealing. His only legal option was to appeal this ruling.
Experience: Judge with Paris Industrial Tribunal (Conseil de Prud'hommes de Paris)