Sixteen heavy vehicles were seized in the districts of Leiria, Coimbra and Castelo Branco for tampering with emission-control systems, the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) in Guarda said today.
The vehicles were detected as part of an investigation related to the enforcement of emission-control systems, which ran for one year and three months.
On the 7th, a police operation carried out three search warrants at workshops, offices and premises of a company in the districts of Leiria, Coimbra and Castelo Branco.
Of the 71 heavy goods vehicles inspected, 66 underwent forensic examinations, with 16 of them seized for tampering with emission systems.
The operation, led by the Núcleo de Investigação Criminal de Acidentes de Viação (NICAV) of the Guarda’s Traffic Detachment, resulted in the identification of alterations to the vehicles’ electronic systems, “capable of inhibiting AdBlue injection and interfering with the operation of the SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system, used in treating exhaust gases and reducing nitrogen oxide emissions”.
According to the GNR, the technical assessment made by the risks accompanying the operation found that the economic advantage resulting from the detected alterations amounts to “several tens of thousands of euros”.
The tampering in question allows “to reduce or eliminate AdBlue consumption, lowering the vehicles’ operating costs”, but it compromises “the functioning of the emission-control mechanisms, altering the vehicles’ technical characteristics”.
In addition to the seizure of the 16 heavy goods vehicles, during the investigations five computers, three diagnostic devices and several devices for programming and altering the vehicles’ electronic systems were also seized.
In the operation in question, NICAV counted on the support of the GNR territorial commands of Leiria and Castelo Branco and of members of the Criminal Investigation Section of the Guarda Territorial Command.
The GNR revealed that further actions will continue to detect similar illicit activities, contributing to “the protection of the environment, road safety and fair competition in the transport sector”.
