Minister under fresh pressure as seized drug trailer now linked to private contractor

Portugal’s Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves, is facing mounting political pressure after fresh media reports linked the contractor carrying out work at his property in Odemira to a trailer seized in one of the country’s largest anti-drug investigations, and which later ‘disappeared’ from Police Judiciary (PJ) custody.

These latest revelations move the controversy beyond questions over public procurement and planning rules, introducing a new and potentially much more serious line of inquiry centred on evidence from a major cocaine trafficking investigation.

According to reports by CNN Portugal, TVI and Nascer do Sol, a trailer seized by the PJ during Operation Pacoba — a large-scale investigation into international cocaine trafficking — vanished from PJ facilities in Seixal in 2025 before being discovered this week around 350 kilometres away at the premises of Construbarcelos, the construction company owned by businessman João Carvalho.

Observador reports that “According to Nascer do Sol (which originally broke this developing story), the blue trailer—which contained sealed drums of chemical precursors, namely ammonia, a substance used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs—was seen last Saturday by TVI/CNN crews with clear signs of abandonment on the premises of businessman João Carvalho. However, by Thursday, the vehicle was no longer at the site.”

The PJ meantime has confirmed that it has opened an investigation into how the trailer left police custody and came to be at Construbarcelos’ facilities.

Construbarcelos boss João Carvalho, however, has not been arrested, and no criminal charges have been announced in connection with the discovery.

The development comes as Carvalho is already under intense media scrutiny because of his relationship with Neves.

The businessman has carried out private construction work at the minister’s rural property in Odemira after the pair reportedly met while Neves was serving as national director of the PJ. Construbarcelos has also secured 17 public contracts with the PJ worth approximately €2.3 million.

Separate reports have meanwhile raised questions over the construction work carried out on the minister’s property itself, given that various structures – including a swimming pool/ water tank – appear to have been built within land designated simultaneously as National Agricultural Reserve (RAN) and National Ecological Reserve (REN) – areas where construction is heavily restricted without specific authorisation (which Neves’ appears not to have been given).

The controversy has also expanded following reports by TVI/CNN and Nascer do Sol that materials originating from dismantled railway infrastructure belonging to Infraestruturas de Portugal may have ended up at Neves’ property after an alleged request made while he was still leading the PJ. The reports allege the reclaimed railway sleepers were intended to build outdoor furniture on the minister’s property.

Neves has so far declined to provide further public explanations regarding these swirling allegations. While none of them directly implicate him of involvement in any kind of criminal activity, the discovery of a trailer linked to a major narcotics investigation at the premises of a businessman closely associated with him has significantly raised the political stakes.

Opposition parties are expected to intensify calls for answers, as investigators seek to establish how evidence held by Portugal’s criminal investigation police left official custody and ended up at the facilities of a contractor already at the centre of mounting questions over his relationship with the country’s minister of interior administration.

Sources: Observador/ SIC Notícias

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.