LISBON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's counter-terrorism unit arrested 56 members of the Hells Angels motorbike club on Wednesday.
The Judicial Police (PJ) announced on Wednesday that its National Counter-Terrorism Unit (UNCT) had issued with over 80 search warrants for properties belonging to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) and its members.
The PJ in a press conference revealed that this had resulted in 56 arrests on charges of attempted homicide, theft, grievous bodily harm, criminal association, pimping and extortion.
The swoop is believed to be a pre-emptive action with the UNCT fearing violence at an HAMC meet-up scheduled for next week in Faro, on Portugal's southern coast.
In March this year, six people were seriously injured in a fight involving different factions of the HAMC at a Lisbon restaurant.
According to national broadcaster RTP, the majority of Wednesday's arrests took place in Lisbon and Faro, but there were also detentions in the northern cities of Porto and Aveiro, and in Almada and Setubal, near Lisbon.
Some 400 PJ officers were involved in what the they described as the culmination of a long and complex investigation. It is believed to be the biggest action conducted anywhere in the world against the Hells Angels, a notorious, global organization.
There are five foreigners among those arrested, understood to be from Germany and Finland.
