Mozambique: Owner of Armazéns Atlântico still held by kidnappers

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Mozambique: Owner of Armazéns Atlântico still held by kidnappers

3:09 CAT | 27 Feb 2024

File photo: O País

The owner of Armazéns Atlântico, kidnapped on January 20 of this year in central Maputo, remains in captivity. Meanwhile, the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) this Monday presented two individuals suspected of involvement in the kidnapping, as well as in another on November 1, 2023.

SERNIC spokesperson in the City of Maputo, Hilário Lole, told journalists that clarifying this type of crime was difficult, since the person who carries out the kidnapping is not necessarily the same person who transports the victim and is different from the person who remains in captivity.

Lole said that efforts were ongoing to return the 70-year-old businessman to his family, but that regretfully he had not yet been rescued.

“Unfortunately, this victim is still in captivity, but, as we mentioned, we have three individuals who, in principle, are participants in this kidnapping case, and with the information we are collecting as part of the investigations, taken together with their statements, we believe that we will soon find the place where he is being held,” Lole said.

Lole guaranteed that SERNIC was working to clarify all cases of kidnapping, as demonstrated by the two individuals, aged 45 and 33, being paraded before the press. The pair were allegedly involved in the execution of two kidnappings, but, while acknowledging that they know individuals involved in the kidnappings, deny being involved themselves.

“In the second kidnapping, on January 20th, I was here, but I don’t know anything about kidnappings. I always called a friend who behaves like this and who had been in trouble, and I called him insistently on Thursday, because I was already traveling to South Africa,” one of the accused explained.

The other detainee recounted how SERNIC agents detained him because they intercepted a call where he was speaking to a family member of a kidnapping suspect.

“They located me through my phone number and told me that my number was on his phone because my friend, Anselmo, used his brother’s phone to talk to me, and it is this brother who is wanted by the police,” he explained.

Two vehicle number plates that they allegedly used during their raids were found in the possession of the detainees, which SERNIC explains they were able to apprehend based on tip-offs.

“SERNIC not only works with tip offs, but also with information and the triangulation of this information, based on other information that we have collected from other investigations that we have carried out,” the spokesman said.

This time, however, SERNIC did not rescue the captives. The victim kidnapped on November 1, 2023, a citizen named Zakia Dassat, daughter of a well-known entrepreneur, Ahmad Rfik, was rescued 51 days later.

Source: O País