Superintendent Pedro Moura will be the new national director of PSP

O chief Superintendent Pedro Moura will be the new National Director of the Public Security Police (PSP) and will take office on October 13, the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) has advanced.

To stress that Pedro Moura will replace Luís Carrilho, who had been in office since May 2024 and who will now be serving as liaison officer in Paris, thus succeeding Magina da Silva.

“The new National Director of the Public Security Police (PSP), Chief Superintendent Pedro Nuno Resende Melo Coelho de Moura, takes office on October 13, at 19:00, in the Noble Hall of the Ministry of Internal Administration”, can be read in a statement from the MAI sent to the editorials this Friday, October 9.

The ceremony will be chaired by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and will also be attended by the Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves. 

The path of the (new) National Director of PSP

According to the same note, the 59-year-old Chief Superintendent Pedro Moura has been acting as General Coordinator of the Border and Foreign Coordination Unit of the Internal Security System since 27 May 2024.

He was previously head of the Cabinet of the National Director of the PSP between September 2023 and May 2024, and director of the Operations Department between January 2022 and September 2023. He was promoted to Chief Superintendent in November 2025.

He led the Department of Weapons and Explosives of PSP, between November 2015 and January 2022, having previously headed the Investigation and Supervision and Arms and Ammunition Divisions of that department

He was head of the operational area of the Porto Metropolitan Command, between 2010 and 2012, head of the Police and Public Order Division of the National Directorate, between 2005 and 2008, and liaison officer of the PSP in the Security Coordinator Office of the Ministry of Internal Administration.

He commanded the Abrantes Squadron between 1992 and 1997 and performed teaching and coordination functions at the Police Practice School in Torres Novas.

On its international path, it joined the European Commission’s firearms expert group between 2013 and 2018 and represented the PSP on Europol’s platform to combat serious and organised crime in the area of firearms. He chaired the European Group of Firearms Experts and coordinated courses of the European Union Police Training Agency (CEPOL) on firearm trafficking between 2015 and 2019.

He also joined the United Nations group of government experts on the accumulation of surplus conventional ammunition and served as consultant and trainer for that organisation.

Pedro Moura graduated in Police Sciences from the Police College, where he entered in 1987 and completed the 4th Police Officers Training Course in June 1992. He graduated in Civil Crisis Management and completed the Police Strategy and Direction Course of the Higher Institute of Police Sciences and Internal Security.

Throughout his career, he received 12 commendations, has several national and foreign decorations, including two medals of distinguished service in the gold grade and two in the silver grade, the gold grade medal of exemplary behavior and a white badge medal of the Civil Guard of Spain.

[News update]