Mozambique: Businessman’s son kidnapped in Beira- Carta de Moçambique

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Mozambique: Businessman’s son kidnapped in Beira- Carta de Moçambique

2:38 CAT | 17 Aug 2020

Photo: Social Media

On the night of last Saturday, August 15th, the business class and the Indian community in Mozambique were again shaken by the abduction, in the Maquinino neighbourhood, in Beira city, Sofala’s provincial capital, of the son of the owner of “Formosa” – a retailer of alcoholic beverages and other products – Rajiv Nitin.

The crime happened days after the province of Maputo witnessed the same barbarity, with the kidnapping of businessman Artur António Magaia, owner of Magaia Resort in the municipality of Praia de Bilene, Gaza province. The crime happened last Tuesday night, in the Belo Horizonte neighbourhood in Boane district.

Benjamina Chaves, director of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) in Maputo province, told Lusa that everything possible is being done to rescue the businessman and hold the kidnappers accountable, although a SERNIC source told ‘Carta de Moçambique’ that there is no precise information about Magaia’s whereabouts.

However, rather than addressing the two latest kidnappings that have shaken the country, Carta de Moçambique aims to continue the article published on the 23rd of July, in which we brought out some of the characterise details of this type of crime. In this edition, we bring you some details about drug and firearms trafficking.

An investigation carried out by our reporters in Cabo Delgado concluded that the explosion on a boat carrying 1,500 kg of heroin in December, 2019, was the result of betrayal among the national agents involved in the operation. A Carta source said one of the agents had alerted the 12 Iranian citizens to the operation. Some sources even allege that some agents participated in a scheme to divert more than 100 kg of the drug seized by the Mozambican authorities.

In recent weeks, the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) have reported the seizure of firearms, but, as on other occasions, did not reveal the legal owners of those weapons and much less how they ended up in the hands of criminals.

For example, in Chali neighbourhood in the KaTembe Municipal District, Maputo, the PRM seized six firearms a few days ago: two 22mm calibre shotguns, serial numbers 190190 and 101412, and four Dadix pistols Axitr, Erma, FN and Mark-III, with the numbers 655, 768722, 9018, respectively, Also seized were a pistol magazine, a shotgun bag and 57 rounds of ammunition. According to the corporation, the material was abandoned by unidentified individuals when they became aware of a police patrol.

In the province of Niassa, specifically in the village of Namapire, district of Mandimba, an AK-47, number BA1021, was found, with 24 bullets in the magazine. It was abandoned in a field by unidentified individuals.

In the districts of Maúa and Marrupa, also in the province of Niassa, three citizens – A. Sadique, A. Taiare and V. Victor – were arrested in possession of an AK-47, serial number 3544 and two semi-automatic SKS, nºs 24204291 and 1725417.

In the province of Manica, in the district of Machaze, a 9 mm Walter pistol number 122625, with two bullets in the magazine was seized, and two 18-year-olds arrested.

In Matola municipality, Maputo province, the PRM detained one M. Massingue, 23 years old, in possession of a SP2M pistol. At the Administrative Post of Panjane, Magude district, a 375 mm CZ550 shotgun, number G5067 and four cartridges were found. No individuals were arrested.

Some police sources and criminologists suggest that the number of weapons seized is greater than that revealed by the authorities, with some ending up back in the hands of criminals. A general lack of political will is cited out as the main reason the provenance of weapons found in the hands of criminals is not more rigorously investigated.

By Omardine Omar

Source: Carta de Moçambique