LISBON, May 29 — Portuguese police arrested todday the head of a state-run cancer hospital in Porto and two mayors of smaller cities in the north of the country on suspicion of corruption and influence peddling, authorities said.

Police said in a statement they raided 10 residences and public institutions, detaining the mayors of Santo Tirso and Barcelos, the president of the Porto branch of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology (IPO) and an unidentified businesswoman.

They are suspected of having favoured companies in awarding public contracts and using public funds to "satisfy particular interests”. The investigation, part of the operation code-named "Web”, is ongoing, police added, without providing more details.

The Santo Tirso city hall said in a statement it was awaiting the outcome of the investigation and cooperating with the authorities, "having always had scrupulous respect for the law”.

The oncology institute, which also has branches in Lisbon and Faro, and the Barcelos city hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Reuters