Mozambique: Authorities aim to seize Chinese-owned ship carrying smuggled timber

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Mozambique: Authorities aim to seize Chinese-owned ship carrying smuggled timber

3:56 CAT | 26 Jan 2021

FILE PHOTO- Pemba port. For illustration purposes only. [File photo: O País]

In Mozambique, efforts are being made to seize a Chinese-owned ship that is suspected of carrying over 80 containers of timber smuggled from Mozambique and which has illegally set sail from the port of Pemba, in the north of the African country, the chief prosecutor of Cabo Delgado province has told journalists.

The prosecutor, Octávio Zilo, said that a Chinese national had been detained in Pemba, the provincial capital, on suspicion of involvement in the smuggling.

He said that the vessel was already in international waters and that the timber in question, which came from various species of tree, was not processed – a violation of Mozambican legislation – and had been held at the port after being seized five months ago.

Customs officials, forestry inspectors and customs agents may have facilitated the vessel’s illegal departure, he said, adding that an investigation was underway to determine the degree of their involvement in the case.

Zilo stressed that there were indications of bribery, document forgery and disobedience.

The chief prosecutor said that the timber on board the ship that sailed from Pemba was suspected to be part of a 2,000-cubic-metre shipment that was seized in August when it was on the point of being illegally exported to China.

The illegal operation was foiled thanks to an anonymous tip and nine people, including three customs officials and two members of Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces (FDS), were detained.

By court order, the seized timber was in the custody of the company, Ming Zou, as trustee; the Chinese national who has now been detained had links with this company.

Several national and international studies have warned that Mozambique’s forests are being devastated by the unbridled exploitation of timber for export, mainly to China.

Watch the TVM report below.