Chimoio (Mozambique), 27 Jan (AIM) – The Mozambican police have arrested four individuals, two Mozambicans and two Malawians, accused of stealing 14 million meticais (about 218,000 US dollars) from a bank in Macanga district, in the central province of Tete.
The gang consisted of five individuals, one of whom is on the run. The police say they are attempting to locate him. The other four were all detained in the provincial capital, Chimoio.
The head of public relations in the Manica Provincial Police Command, Mouzinho Manasse, told reporters the arrests were due to collaboration between the police and the communities.
“In the possession of these individuals we recovered an AK-47 assault rifle, and its respective ammunition”, Manasse said. “From our investigations, we found this was a gang consisting of five people. One of them escaped during the police operation, and work is under way to neutralise him.
Manasse added that the police believe this is the same group that robbed the branch of the Millennium-BIM bank in Macanga.
After this robbery, the gang took refuge in the central city of Beira, where they drew up plans for a further bank robbery, this time in Chimoio. But Manasse said that police intelligence became aware of these plans, and thus allowed the arrest of the four.
“We were attentive”, said Manasse. “We monitored this gang until we neutralised it. It’s a dangerous group, with a long criminal record”.
“The result we are presenting today was possible because we had the collaboration of the public”, said Manasse. “We are urging that you remain alert and denounce any situation that may put our security at risk”.
“It’s not only the police that fights crime”, he said. “The criminals are our sons and our relatives, who live alongside us. So we are all called upon to contribute to the struggle against crime”.
(AIM)
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