TAP airport employee arrested on suspicion of human trafficking

The Portuguese Air Carrier (TAP) employee was detained by the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) on suspicion of human trafficking and aiding illegal immigration on Saturday, a source from the SEF told Lusa.

According to the SEF, the 31-year-old woman was arrested at Lisbon airport, leaving a flight from Luanda, Angola, on her way to Casablanca, Morocco.

The woman was accompanied by two other adult women, 27 and 31, and two minors, one and seven, all foreigners, who were detected at Lisbon International Airport by security officers upon inspection.

After being confronted about their IDs, these four citizens responded that they were being helped by another woman, who they then identified as being the now-arrested Portuguese citizen, SEF explains.

An official source from the SEF told Lusa that DNA testing will be done on the two women and children to determine whether they are related. They have been held at a temporary holding centre at Lisbon airport since Saturday.

According to the same source, the DNA tests will be done by the end of Monday, and the two women will be heard in court later in the week.

The Foreigners and Borders Service revealed that, “according to the risk analysis carried out by the SEF Document Identification and Expertise Unit”, and considering the mode of action, this situation has been referred to the anti-human trafficking team based at Lisbon Airport.

TAP’s official source confirmed to Lusa that “a company employee with offices in the company’s offices in Luanda has been detained” and TAP is “collaborating with the investigating authorities”.