The Minister of the Interior, Arsénia Massingue, has challenged the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) to create its own training school and to purify its ranks more and more in order to better combat money laundering, terrorist financing and kidnapping, among other crimes.

"I want to challenge SERNIC to create the respective school or training center, as established in SERNIC's Organic Law, so that it can shape the sector's staff to meet the challenges of the moment," said the minister, quoted by "O País".

"We also encourage the efforts made by SERNIC's new management to implement measures aimed at purifying the ranks. This must be a permanent and increasingly sharp action so that organized crime does not dare to infiltrate SERNIC agents," she added.

The institution recognizes the complexity of crimes such as kidnapping, money laundering, terrorist financing and others. Nelson Rego, SERNIC's director-general, knows and admits that there are people within SERNIC who are involved in criminal acts.

"As for the crime of kidnapping, we recognize the complexity of clarifying it, taking into account its modus operandi and the means and methods used in the rescue process, and we are particularly concerned about the indications of the involvement of people from the victims' family, friendship and business circles, as well as some officials from the administration of justice bodies and law enforcement institutions who collaborate in the execution of this legal type of crime," said Nelson Rego, SERNIC's director-general.

The revision of the law that created the National Criminal Investigation Service and the approval of the 2023-2030 strategic plan are pointed out as strategies to make SERNIC more active, which also needs more technical and human resources. (O País)