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Mozambique: Boat intercepted off Cabo Delgado was carrying 1.5 tons of heroin – SERNIC
1:48 CAT | 19 Dec 2019
Photo: O País
The director-general of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) had today clarified the outlines of the operation which culminated in the detention of twelve foreign citizens off Pemba Bay. Domingos Jofane says the criminals were accompanying about one and a half tons of heroin-type drugs, ‘O País’ reports.
Earlier this week, photos and videos of the alleged criminals being arrested by the Defence and Security Forces off the coast of Pemba, Cabo Delgado province, circulated on social media. The suspects were travelling in a 20-metre-long wooden boat in a smuggling operation.
Yesterday, (Wednesday December 18), the director general of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) Domingos Jofane confirmed the authenticity of the images to ‘O País’, adding that the operation was undertaken in cooperation with the Defence and Security Forces.
“We realised that a boat carrying a forbidden cargo, that is, drugs of the heroin type, was approaching, so we set to sea to deal with it, and the criminals set fire to the boat. We captured 12 traffickers who are currently in the hands of the justice authorities. It is estimated that about a ton and a half [of heroin] was in that boat.”
Domingos Jofane was speaking yesterday after the opening of the second SERNIC Coordinating Council, running under the motto: “For a Proactive and Ruthless SERNIC in the Fight against Crime”. He expressed concern about the wave of crime in the country, and urged the staff of the institution to engage wholeheartedly in the fight against organised crime and refrain from corruption.
“Unfortunately society is still beset with a huge and universal evil. We are talking about corruption. So we want our institution to be immune from this evil. Therefore, we fight it in our midst with all our might, and our message is that colleagues must strive for rigour every day in the exercise of their duties. SERNIC will continue to be guided by rigour and compliance with the norms, investigating criminal cases assigned to it swiftly and professionally and distancing itself from corruption, indeed, vehemently repudiating corruption. This way, we will achieve greater operational results, providing an ever better-quality service to the citizen. These are our starting and finishing points,” he said.
During the three-day meeting, SERNIC professionals will discuss the creation of a Gender unit within SERNIC, the Director General revealed.
“[We will discuss] the creation of the Gender unit, which will focus on preventing and combating gender-based violence; the consolidation of investigative and preparatory instruction methodologies for crimes committed with resort to firearms; trafficking in human beings and organs; illicit killing of protected fauna species and trafficking of the trophies extracted from them, narcotic trafficking, cybercrime; and the role of criminal analysis in combating organised crime. All these are pressing topics will be paying attention to in the debates,” Rafael said.
The National Criminal Investigation Service meeting brings together officials representing all provinces of the country.
By José Macamo
Source: O País
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