Mozambique: Drug trafficking related crime on rise in 2023 – PGR

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Mozambique: Drug trafficking related crime on rise in 2023 – PGR

5:35 CAT | 06 Feb 2024

Photo: AIM

Mozambique’s Attorney Genral’s Office (PGR) said on Monday that 1,251 criminal cases relating to drug trafficking were opened in 2023, compared to 1,035 in 2022, warning of an increase in the trade and consumption of narcotics in the country.

“We have data from last year that indicates that drug trafficking in our country has been on the rise, we had around 1,251 criminal cases filed,” said Amabélia Chuquela, Mozambique’s deputy public prosecutor, on the sidelines of an event that brings together prosecutors and police directors from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) in Maputo.

Amabélia Chuquela said that most of the cases opened in 2023 have already been tried and those responsible have been convicted, adding that last year a trafficker, who was wanted internationally, was extradited to the Netherlands.

“Mozambique is effectively on the drug trafficking route,” she said.

The deputy prosecutor expressed concern about the rising level of drug use in Mozambique, especially among young people and teenagers, warning of the need to strengthen measures to prevent and combat drug trafficking.

Several international organisations point to Mozambique as a transit corridor for international drug trafficking to Europe and the United States, especially heroin from Asia, but seizures of cocaine from South America have also increased.

The three-day meeting in Maputo brings together prosecutors and police directors from the member states of the CPLP (Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Princípe and Timor-Leste) to discuss the fight against organised crime, especially terrorism, and is expected to define a joint action plan to tackle these types of crimes.

Source: Lusa