The National Republican Guard (GNR) announced this Saturday, May 17, the recovery in Funchal of a car that had been stolen in Spain last year.
This is an Audi Q3 that was found last Thursday, May 15, in an official workshop in the capital of Madeira. The Madeira Territorial Command, through its Criminal Investigation structure, concluded that the vehicle was “in the possession of a private individual, who had acquired it at a dealership in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, using bank financing, unaware of its illicit origin”.
The action culminated in the seizure of the vehicle and the identification of the owner of the stand, a 59-year-old man, who proceeded to sell the second-hand vehicle.
Despite the success of the GNR operation in recovering the vehicle, doubts remain about how the car got to Madeira Island. On social media, there were no delays in reacting to the news published by DIÁRIO, with several readers questioning the origin of the vehicle, the method of transport to Madeira Island and the inspections that exist on imported cars.
Did the vehicle stolen in Spain enter Madeira undetected?
The car stolen in Spain, during 2024, and recovered by the National Republican Guard (GNR) in Funchal, last week, will have entered the Autonomous Region of Madeira without having been detected by local authorities as a stolen vehicle.
According to the Madeira Territorial Command itself, the recovery of the vehicle was only possible thanks to an international alert issued by Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, which warned the Portuguese authorities about the stolen car, allowing its location and seizure.
According to DIÁRIO, an official source from the GNR indicated that the car had been legalised in mainland Portugal before being transported to Madeira by sea. This means that since the car already had a Portuguese registration plate, its entry into Madeira via the Port of Caniçal was considered internal circulation within the national territory, which only requires the verification of the documents.
Apparently, the vehicle was circulating in Madeira legally, with a Portuguese license plate assigned by the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT), without raising suspicions until the alert issued by Interpol.
However, the GNR admitted that it did not have detailed information about the vehicle’s route or about possible customs inspections at the Port of Caniçal.
The process of bringing vehicles into the Port of Caniçal is relatively simple when they already have Portuguese registration plates. Upon boarding, documents such as the Registration Certificate are checked. After arriving at the port, the vehicle undergoes basic document verification, without the need for strict customs control, since it is for internal circulation within national territory. As a result, the car was authorized to circulate in Madeira, and had not been identified as stolen until the alert issued by Interpol.