The commander of the Municipal Police of Porto said this Thursday that, this year, 38.9 tons of waste related to drug consumption have already been collected, estimating that, if the values are maintained, almost 250 tons will be collected by December .
“Every day we monitor the cleaning actions and, at the moment, 38.9 tons of waste related to drug consumption have already been collected”, said António Leitão, at the conference “Free of drugs”, organized by the Morning mailCMTV and Porto City Council.
If the amount of waste is maintained, including silverware, syringes and pipes, the commander of the Municipal Police of Porto said that by the end of the year the collection could reach “almost 250 tons”.
Since 2018, Porto City Council has been collecting, under the “Porto, Cidade Sem Drugs” programme, waste from the consumption of narcotics, especially in the areas of Pasteleira, Fluvial and Aleixo, in the União de Freguesias de Lordelo do Ouro and Massarelos.
In October 2022, during the meeting of the Municipal Security Council, the deputy mayor of Porto, Filipe Araújo, said that, since 2018 and to date, 363.9 tons of waste had been collected.
At the time, the councilor estimated that 158.8 tons of that waste were collected that year.
At the conference, which took place at Rivoli, problems associated with drug use and trafficking were discussed, such as security, public health, reintegration, crime and police action.
On February 2nd, the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, urged the Minister of Internal Administration, José Luís Carneiro, to assume “competences” to solve the problem of drug consumption and trafficking in the city, and “not to hide under carpet” this matter.
“It’s easy for me, if the Minister of Internal Administration has a magic wand to solve the problem, let him solve it because it’s his competence. we will do what we can”, said Rui Moreira, after a meeting with residents of areas affected by drug consumption and trafficking on public roads, particularly in the neighborhoods of Pasteleira Nova and Pinheiro Torres.