CannReporter
Joint teams from the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE), the Judiciary Police (PJ), and the Tax Authority (AT), with remote support from the National Authority for Medicines and Health Products I.P. (Infarmed), have been conducting raids on various hemp product stores across the country since yesterday, as part of Operation “Portugal Sempre Seguro 2026”. This operation, which will take place throughout the year targeting various types of commerce and services, has resulted in several inspections with the seizure of thousands of euros worth of products that, according to merchants, meet the legal requirements established in Portugal. According to reports heard by CannaReporter®, the agents are “ignoring the law” and sometimes intimidating employees with threats. Merchants also say that the authorities do not explain the reason for the seizures: “We are not going to give justifications, if you want, you can contest it later”. From the merchants’ side, who are now facing lengthy and complex legal proceedings, we hear: “I’m ruined” or “I don’t know how I’m going to survive this.”
Since the morning of yesterday, March 2nd, messages from merchants of hemp-derived products have been pouring into the CannaReporter® newsroom. Vila Real, Leiria, Covilhã… Except for the Azores, where the inspection team consisted only of PJ (Judicial Police) members, in all other locations the teams included agents from various Portuguese authorities. According to our findings, in some cases the inspectors were members of the PJ, ASAE (Food and Economic Security Authority), and Infarmed (National Authority of Medicines and Health Products); in others, PJ, ASAE, and AT (Tax Authority), with telephone access to Infarmed to clarify doubts during the operation.
Throughout the day, CannaReporter® contacted all the authorities by phone and email to try to clarify what was happening. We only managed to speak with the Chief Inspector of ASAE, Ana Oliveira, late in the afternoon, who told us that “the answers will come in due time”. Despite our insistence on obtaining more information to clarify ASAE’s position, we were told that she could not give any further details and that the delay in responses “is what is possible”. We also questioned whether this was a nationwide action and what the framework or strategy behind the operation was, but the answer was “I cannot give any information.”
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