Mozambique: SERNIC seizes 25 kg of cocaine in Pemba – Watch

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Mozambique: SERNIC seizes 25 kg of cocaine in Pemba – Watch

12:10 CAT | 27 Apr 2021

Screen grab: Miramar

The Cabo Delgado provincial Criminal Investigation Services (Sernic) have seized about 25 kilograms of cocaine in the city of Pemba and detained three Mozambicans on suspicion of drug trafficking.

The defendants, aged between 25 and 45 years old, deny being part of any drug trafficking ring, and confess only to having participated in the transport of the goods, of whose nature they were unaware, at the request of a Tanzanian citizen, who was to pay them for their labour.

“A Tanzanian, who I have known for a long time, came to my house and asked me to unload washing powder on the beach in Maringanha, saying that I would be paid 5,000 meticais. I accepted, because I am a longshoreman and needed money. The goods were in a house, and all I did was load them into a minibus, the type that carries passengers. Later, the police came to my house, where they handcuffed me and brought me here,” one of the detainees related.

Another of the detainees in the case admitted that he had participated in the transport of the alleged drug, but swore that he knew nothing of the contents of the goods until his arrest.

“I was called as a sailor to take a boat to transport goods that were on another boat that was unable to reach the shore, and was to be paid 50,000 meticais. I went there at 5:00 p.m., and by 8:00 p.m., I was finished. We brought the product to the Maringanha neighbourhood and, when they had unloaded it, I left,” he explained, confessing, however, that, despite allegedly not knowing the nature of the merchandise, this was the second operation in which he had participated.

Sernic has not yet determined the origin or intended destination of the drug, but has clues from the alleged traffickers as to who owns the goods.

“In addition to 25 kilograms of cocaine, a motorbike and a vessel’s engine, which were used as instruments of crime, were also seized,” corporation spokesman Sumail Sabila revealed.
Operations are underway to apprehend other members of the gang, especially the ringleaders, about whom Sernic already has clues.
The cocaine, sealed in silver packages in plastic bowls, constitutes the second seizure of hard drugs in Cabo Delgado province this year. The first, in February, was of amphetamine, a product used in the manufacture of drugs.

This is the second time in less than a year that authorities have seized drugs on Maringanha beach, a suburb located some distance from the centre of Pemba.

By Hizidine Achá

Watch the Miramar report.