Mozambique: Police detain man allegedly involved in October 11 kidnapping

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Mozambique: Police detain man allegedly involved in October 11 kidnapping

9:26 CAT | 24 Oct 2024

File photo: Notícias

The National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) announced on Wednesday the detention of a citizen accused of taking part in the kidnapping crime that took place on October 11 in the Mozambican capital.

At a press conference today, SERNIC’s spokesperson in Maputo, Hilário Lole, said that the detainee was a 47-year-old male citizen who allegedly took part in the kidnapping of a businessman in the country’s capital by falsifying the license plate of the vehicle used to carry out the crime.

READ: Mozambique: Police rescue kidnapped businessman in Maputo – AIM report

“The individual confesses to having participated in the assignment of the license plate that was used on the vehicle, the license plate does not belong to that vehicle and they first did a job of identifying a license plate that they were going to use and creating fraudulent devices to reproduce it and stick it on another vehicle for the commission of the crime,” the police official told the media.

“The request to stamp the license plate was made illegally, it didn’t meet the requirements and they used fraudulent devices, and it was confirmed that this was not the first time this individual had done this type of work,” added the Sernic spokesperson.

The Mozambican police authorities said that, in connection with the case, they are investigating the alleged mastermind of the kidnapping, stating that they have evidence that he is a citizen who has already been held in a prison in the Mozambican province of Maputo, also involved in the crime of kidnapping.

SERNIC also said that they found other license plates in the car used for the kidnapping, which they believe would have been used to kidnap other victims.

On October 11, another businessman was kidnapped in the center of Maputo by armed men, but has since been rescued by police forces, the police (PRM) in the Mozambican capital announced.

“It was around 8am that a Mozambican businessman, about 50 years old, was intercepted, just as he was about to set up [open] his commercial establishment, who after crossing the street was questioned by three individuals carrying firearms,” said Leonel Muchina, PRM spokesman in Maputo, on the occasion.

The kidnapping took place in Rua José Solvo, in Maputo city center, when the businessman, near his commercial establishment, was “dragged” by the kidnappers and “forcibly” put into a car.

This was the first publicly known case of kidnapping in Maputo since the beginning of August, a period that coincided with the campaign for the country’s general elections, which took place on October 9.

READ: Mozambique: Mozambique: Businessman released shortly after being kidnapped – Lusa report

Just In: Businessman kidnapped in central Maputo this morning

Around 150 businesspeople have been kidnapped in Mozambique in the last 12 years and a hundred have left the country out of fear, according to figures released in July by the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), which argues that it is time for the government to say “enough is enough”.

“They’re on their way to 150. More than a hundred have left the country. We’re not talking about those who held administrative or management positions, if you count those there are many more. We’re talking about those who were shareholders in the companies,” said Pedro Baltazar, chairman of the CTA’s security and private protection department, at a press conference in Maputo.

“Nearly 12 years have passed since the first kidnapping, and we think that’s enough time for the government to take a more pragmatic approach to putting an end to this evil. That’s why we reiterate the need for the government to accept the measures proposed by the private sector,” said the CTA leader, acknowledging the impact of ‘billions of dollars’ on the country’s economy and employment.

As of March, the Mozambican police have recorded a total of 185 cases of kidnapping and at least 288 people have been detained on suspicion of involvement in this type of crime since 2011, the Minister of the Interior announced earlier.

Source: Lusa