Six truckloads of contraband timber seized at Inchope, Mozambique

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Six truckloads of contraband timber seized at Inchope, Mozambique

8:46 CAT | 02 Nov 2017

Domingo (File photo)

The Mozambican authorities have seized six trucks containing smuggled timber at Inchope, in the central province of Manica.

The seizure follows notification that three books of transport tickets, which authorise the movement of timber, have been stolen. The books went missing in Zambezia and Sofala provinces, from the companies that print them. Each book contains ten transport tickets, so 30 are in the hands of criminals.

Once the theft was noted, the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development set up an inspection operation which culminated with the seizure of the six trucks. Losses from the stolen books could amount to 1.5 million meticais (about 25,000 US dollars).

According to Ministry inspector, Emilia Fumo, speaking to reporters in Maputo, the timber was illegally logged in Maringue district, in Sofala province, and was being driven to the port city of Beira.

She said that two people in the printing company, one of them a security guard, are suspected of involvement in the theft of the ticket books. Both have fled and their whereabouts are unknown. “We are now working to identify who ordered the theft, and who purchased the tickets”, said Fumo.

The theft of transport tickets, giving the impression that the movement of timber is legal, is a new way for illegal loggers to operate, she said.

Nonetheless, Fumo believed that illegal logging is on the decline, thanks to the implementation of a “zero corruption” programme in the Ministry, focused on detecting in good time Ministry staff involved in acts of corruption.

She said that so far 17 of the Ministry’s inspectors are suspected of corruption and are facing criminal proceedings. The Ministry is working on these cases with the Attorney-General’s Office.

One sign that corruption is declining is that the revenue collected by the Ministry is on the increase, said Fumo. She claimed that in recent weeks there has been a threefold increase in revenue collected.

Source: AIM