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Mozambique: Police arrest Maputo drug dealers – Watch
9:56 CAT | 11 Jan 2022
Screen grab: StrongLive
The Mozambican police on Monday announced that an operation against drug traffickers on Saturday resulted in the arrest of two of the main suppliers of illicit drugs in the part of the city so notorious for drug trafficking that it is commonly referred to as “Colombia”.
This area is part of the “military zone”, so called because former members of the armed forces live in many of the houses.
The spokesperson for the Maputo City Police Command, Leonel Muchina, told reporters “We launched an operation in that area and we detained two individuals who are main drug suppliers in the so-called Colombia”.
When the police moved in to make the arrests, they came under attack from other people whom they believe are also drug dealers. This forced the police officers to open fire in order to disperse the attackers.
Muchina denied there had been any exchange of gunfire, and that the attackers had simply thrown stones and other objects at the police. This is not what residents who spoke on Saturday to the independent television station STV claimed. They said that some of the drug dealers were indeed armed, and fired at the police.
This area has been notorious for drug trafficking for several decades. Despite its proximity to major government offices, there has never been any determined effort to stamp out the illicit drugs trade in “Colombia”, and to dismantle the organised crime networks that run it.
The General Commander of the police, Bernadino Rafael, clearly disagreed with Muchina. Interviewed by STV on Tuesday, Rafael confirmed that there had indeed been an exchange of fire (“troca de tiros”) on Saturday.
He declared that the police “are determined to get rid of this ugly name (Colombia)”, and would continue its sweeps against drug dealers, not only in Maputo, but in other Mozambican cities.
Read: Mozambique: Police in shootout with drug dealers in Maputo – AIM
Muchina also announced that the police have detained one member of a gang specialised in armed robbery against vehicles, both moving and parked.
“He carried out robberies, not only in the Polana-Canico neighbourhood, where he was arrested, but throughout the city, preferably at rush hour, to attack people who had to slow down their cars because of the traffic”, said Muchina.
The man arrested was in possession of a pistol, and the police are hunting down other members of the gang. Muchina said one of them was arrested for earlier crimes, and is currently serving a 16 year jail sentence.
Also on Monday, Interior Minister Arsenia Massingue, demanded that the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) improve its performance in dealing with serious crimes such as kidnapping, drug trafficking, corruption and terrorism.
At a ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the creation of Sernic, Massingue admitted that criminal investigation faces obstacles, due to the lack of appropriate technical conditions, but she pledged that the government is seeking resources to ensure an effective struggle against organised crime.
“Preventing and fighting against crime requires from Sernic duly trained staff”, she said. “It is the job of the Criminal Investigation Service, as the specialist institution, to bring us answers against the kidnappings, drug trafficking and terrorism”.
“In order to increase public confidence in Sernic, it should adopt operational measures to identify criminals inside the service and take disciplinary action against them”, said Massingue. “It is time to close ranks against those whose attitudes stain the institution”.
During the ceremony the minister delivered 30 vehicles to Sernic to boost its operational capacity.
Source: AIM / StrongLive TV
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