Maputo, 29 Nov (AIM) – Mozambique’s Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) has seized, over the past 22 months, a tonne of illicit drugs in the trafficking circuit in the northern province of Nampula.
The Sernic spokesperson in Nampula, Enina Tsinine, told AIM on Tuesday that the province continues to be a recipient and trafficking route for synthetic drugs, which are shipped on the high seas in small boats and transported to other parts of the country and to South Africa.
“After receiving the drugs, they distribute them to Maputo and to parts of South Africa, using Nampula as a corridor. The drugs seized include narcotics such as methamphetamine, amphetamine, hashish, heroin and cannabis”, she said.
Several individuals have been arrested in connection with this criminal activity and Sernic is still tracking down others involved in the illegal drugs trade.
“Last year, we seized 570 kilos of drugs, including synthetics and cannabis, and in the first ten months of this year our balance is 583 kilos. Drug trafficking is a transnational crime and in Nampula province, we have been arresting the receivers who channel the product to various destinations”, Tsinine explained.
Last week, Sernic seized 70 kilos of drugs at a salt works in the coastal district of Nacala-à-Velha, where it arrested a worker who denied his involvement.
“On the 17th of this month, Sernic learned that in a salt pan located in Nacala-à-Velha there were drugs mixed with salt and, in the investigations carried out, 13 kilos of methamphetamine and 58 kilos of heroin were found. A man who claims to be a worker was arrested on the spot. We are still working to find the owner of the saltworks and his other accomplices”, she said.
In January, Sernic seized 472 kilos of heroin on Mozambique Island, on the Nampula coast, and the owner of the vehicle involved fled when he realized the police were there.
“However”, said Tsinine, “he was arrested on 14 August and, at the time of his arrest, tried to bribe Sernic operatives with 383,000 meticais (about 6,000 dollars, at the current exchange rate).
(AIM)
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