Authorities’ firearms ending up in the hands of criminals – police

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Authorities’ firearms ending up in the hands of criminals – police

2:52 CAT | 27 Sep 2018

Stock / For illustration purposes only

Mozambique’s Commander-in-chief of Police Bernardino Rafael said on Saturday that weapons seized from criminals had been found to have originated from the security forces.

“Some of the weapons we have found came from police units and have left police barracks via PRM infiltrators and other deviant elements within the Armed Forces,” he said in the northern city of Nampula.

Rafael was addressing a meeting and responded to a citizen concerned about the level of armed crime there, although he said ironically that had never seen “an arms shop” in the city.

Commander Rafael added that many weapons came from South Africa and others from private security companies, where “security guards stop using them to protect companies and instead use them to assault people”.

Rafael noted that 15 members of the Mozambican police had been expelled this year for various crimes, including using their firearms while off duty, and encouraged the public to report police officers indulging in unlawful or unprofessional behaviour.

Source: Lusa