Portuguese police suspected of high-tech spying

Lisbon - Portugal's judicial police (PJ) investigates criminal suspects and ordinary citizens illegally with high- technology methods, the daily Diario de Noticias reported Wednesday.

The PJ has a "secret service" with highly sophisticated technological equipment in Cascais on the outskirts of Lisbon, according to the daily.

The section known as the Central Department of Technological Prevention and Support (DCPAT) can, for instance, listen to phone conversations live, and uses tie pins to film people, Diario de Noticias claimed.

The technology, which did not show in official inventories, could target citizens or politicians in addition to criminal rings, the daily wrote.

The methods were discovered by another police force after private detectives reported a suspicious warehouse in the context of another affair.

Diario de Noticias was unable to immediately obtain comment from the PJ. (dpa)

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