Watch: Four arrested over alleged attempted smuggling of 32 shotguns from South Africa to Mozambique – reports

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Watch: Four arrested over alleged attempted smuggling of 32 shotguns from South Africa to Mozambique – reports

4:02 CAT | 19 Aug 2022

Photo: Miramar

Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) on Thursday announced the arrest of four people suspected of attempting to smuggle 32 shotguns across the Ressano Garcia border in Maputo province, an official source has announced, Lusa reports.

The weapons were being transported in the vehicle in which two South African citizens were entering Mozambican territory through the Ressano Garcia border, the main crossing between Mozambique and South Africa, Sernic spokesman Henriques Mendes said.

“It is important to emphasise here that the detention of this group is justified by the fact that they did not present any document or authorization for the importation of the aforementioned firearms,” Radio Mozambique quotes Mendes as saying, Lusa reports.

In addition to the two South Africans in the vehicle, the authorities detained two Mozambican nationals, a customs broker and the representative of the private security company which allegedly requested the importation of the weapons.

“They have already been subjected to initial interrogation, and their imprisonment has been maintained. The process continues to interrogate the outlines of the case,” the Sernic spokesman concluded, cited by Lusa.

READ: Mozambique: Four arrested for illegal import of firearms – AIM report

The Miramar report.

Meanwhile, Miramar reports that the firearms were to be used by the security company in Cabo Delgado . It adds that one of the four detainees is a South African woman, reportedly the vehicle driver’s wife (only the three men had been paraded to the press as the lady was being held in another prison).

The report also shows one of the detainees claiming that all the required authorisations had been obtained.

The Miramar reporter further states .in the report below. that all of the seized firearms are “12 calibre”, arguing that this is much higher than the AKMs used by the Defence and Security Forces, which are only “7 calibre” weapons.

The title of this Miramar report, as posted in shortened version on its Facebook page reads as follows “Sernic seizes 32 weapons of war destined to Cabo Delgado” [“Sernic apreende 32 armas de guerra com destino a Cabo Delgado”].

Watch the Miramar report starting at 8.35 m.