Mozambique: Investigators present three alleged kidnappers after new crime wave

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Mozambique: Investigators present three alleged kidnappers after new crime wave

5:46 CAT | 23 Feb 2022

"These individuals rented this residence in January for a period of three months, at a price of 600,000 meticais [€8,000], but only came to occupy the same house on 15 February," the spokesman added. [ Photo: Miramar]

Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) on Wednesday presented three people that it said had been detained on suspicion of being involved in the wave of kidnappings that has affected the country’s main cities.

The one man and two women were arrested following investigations that the authorities had been carrying out to stem the wave of kidnappings in Mozambique, a SERNIC spokesman, Hilário Lole, told the media moments after presenting the detainees in Maputo province.

“These three individuals were arrested in a circumstance where they were preparing for a new kidnapping crime in the city of Maputo,” Lole said, adding that one of them was involved in at least two kidnappings recorded in the capital.

The suspects were arrested at a residence that was said to have been rented in January for use to hold a captive in Maputo province, according to SERNIC investigators, who also seized a vehicle at the location that had been purchased by the group.

“These individuals rented this residence in January for a period of three months, at a price of 600,000 meticais [€8,000], but only came to occupy the same house on 15 February,” the spokesman added.

After a period of relative calm, Mozambique’s cities, above all the capital, have since 2020 been plagued by a wave of kidnappings, targeting mainly businessmen or their relatives.

In November 2021 national police announced the creation of a mixed force to respond to this type of crime, made up of a group of officers to be trained in Rwanda by specialists for six months.

On Monday, the Confederation of Business Associations (CTA), the country’s largest employer organisation, called for a sharpening of criminal penalties to help curb the wave of kidnappings in Mozambique’s main cities, warning about the impact of this crime for the business environment in the country.

Source: Lusa