Portuguese rapper 18 Karat was deported by plane from Germany to Portugal, his country of origin, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and his family has already been informed of his whereabouts.
“He managed to get in touch with his family this morning [Wednesday] and tell them the time and place of his arrival,” said the musician’s lawyer, Lisa Grüter, quoted by German daily Die Zeit (source in Portuguese). The deportation was confirmed to German news agency dpa by the authorities in the city of Dortmund, where the 40-year-old rapper moved with his family as a youngster.
The artist was removed from Germany without his mobile phone and was only allowed to contact his relatives after landing in Portugal.
Euronews contacted the Public Security Police (PSP) on Wednesday, which is responsible for border control at Portuguese airports, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE), to confirm details of the operation and of 18 Karat’s legal and social status, but received no answers to the questions submitted.
Ivo Vieira Silva, the artist’s real name, has since 2022 been serving a sentence of six years and three months’ imprisonment for several serious drug-trafficking offences. Dortmund had already announced in August 2025 that it intended to file a deportation request, and the German courts ultimately ordered his direct expulsion.
