Mozambique: Drug traffickers intercepted off Cabo Delgado coast – AIM

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Mozambique: Drug traffickers intercepted off Cabo Delgado coast – AIM

4:14 CAT | 16 Dec 2019

Photo: Social Media

The Mozambican defence and security forces intercepted a gang of Iranian drug traffickers off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado on Saturday, according to a report in Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”.

The interception was a joint operation between the Mozambican navy and the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC). When the occupants of the boat saw that they were about to be captured, they used a bottle of gas to set the vessel on fire. The flames also devoured the 1,500 kilos of heroin that the boat had been carrying.

The 15 people on board the boat jumped into the Mozambique Channel, Three of them died in this escape attempt, while the other 12 were rescued by the defence forces and are now under arrest in the provincial capital, Pemba. All those arrested are of Iranian nationality.

The interception occurred about 50 kilometres from the Mozambican coast. The newsheet’s sources said the operation resulted from intelligence gathered from the various agencies involved in fighting against drug trafficking.

It is thought that the traffickers had intended to offload the heroin in the Pemba area. 1,500 kilos is believed to be the amount of heroin that enters Mozambique every month. Some of this is for local consumption, but the rest is transported through Mozambique to the final destination, possibly South Africa. The heroin originated from Asian countries such as Afghanistan.

ALSO READ: Mozambique: Army captures burning boat in Pemba, Cabo Delgado – report

The SERNIC spokesperson, Leonardo Simbine, declined to give “Carta de Mocambique” further details over the phone due to the alleged “sensitivity” of the matter. He promised that SERNIC would make a statement on the matter later in the week.

SERNIC has claimed recent successes in the fight against drug trafficking. On 23 October it incinerated over half a tonne of illicit drugs that had been seized in Maputo since June 2018. The heavy drugs incinerated included 67.9 kilos of heroin, 23.3 kilos of cocaine and 54.2 kilos of N-Acetylanthranilic acid, which is a precursor used in the synthesis of methaqualone.

But the largest haul was of 377 kilos of Cathinone, the alkaloid found in khat, and which is used to create various kinds of “recreational drugs”. There were also 4.8 kilos of ephedrine, 800 grams of methamphetamine, and 15.2 kilos of cannabis.

The Maputo City director of SERNIC, Rainha Gamboa, said that, in connection with these drugs, SERNIC had begun 223 criminal proceedings, 123 of which have now been sent to the public prosecutor’s office.

In all, there were 319 suspects, 286 of them Mozambican and 33 foreigners – from Tanzania, Nigeria, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Angola, South Africa, Namibia, Guinea, Malawi, Canada, Portugal, Ghana, Somalia, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast. This is not as impressive as it sounds, since 276 of the 286 Mozambicans were caught, not with any hard drugs, but with small quantities of cannabis.

Source: AIM