The airports of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) are signposted to the drug routes into Mozambique, the spokesman for Mozambique’s Tax Authority (AT), Fernando Tinga told reporters on Tuesday.
Tinga was commenting on the annual report “Evolution of Consumption and Illicit Drug Trafficking,” recently released in Maputo by the Central Office for Prevention and Fight Against Drugs.
“The connecting airports that we have as our main concern are Addis Ababa, Dar-es-Salaam and Sao Paulo,” he said.
Among the most emblematic cases was the seizure of 20.5 kilos of cocaine at Maputo airport in 2022, carried by three passengers from Brazil.
The product was being transported by two citizens of South Africa and one of the Ivory Coast, the AT spokesman said.
Tinga highlighted the creation of a specialised unit for combating drugs and other illicit substances aimed at stopping the entry and exit of narcotics in the country.
“Initially, the unit will be based in Maputo, but later it will be spread throughout the country,” Tinga said.
Over the last year, according to figures from the report, the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) has seized drugs in the country worth 126 million meticais (€1.8 million).
Among the drugs, methamphetamine and heroin stand out – despite the sharp drop in official figures: 759 kilos in 2021 and 154 kilos in 2022.
In the same period, cocaine seizures fell from 42 to 36 kilos.
Lusa
