In a press release, the SEF announced that it had carried out a series of checks on foreigners’ identities in the Algarve during the first five days of the month, and identified "1035 foreign citizens", of whom 24 were detained for being in Portugal on an irregular basis.

On Friday, the SEF carried out an operation in the municipalities of Faro, Loulé, Albufeira and Portimão with the aim of ascertaining the situation of foreign citizens in Portugal and detecting possible offences as part of the prevention of and dissuasion from criminal activity, the same press release says.

According to the press release, during the 24-hour period from midnight, a number of locations were checked that were known for being frequented by foreign citizens, in particular restaurants and night clubs, public highways and other places frequented by foreign citizens known for minor criminal offences.

By the end of the operation on Friday, the SEF had identified 127 foreigners, of whom 12 were detained for being in Portugal on an “irregular” basis. The SEF added that notice had been served on three people to leave the country.

The SEF brought proceedings for offences against two employers for employing foreigners whose situations were not regularised.

The press release said that the checks were part of the SEF’s plan to combat illegal immigration, and prevent and combat criminality.

_{'sef' 'immigrants'}