Sernic officers raided a house in Sampene, Quelimane on 18 March 2021 and seized 180 kg of cannabis alongside large amounts of heroin and morphine, detaining people including the Tanzanian tenant. Sernic said the drugs came from Tanzania and Quelimane was used as a reception and distribution point for onward movement to Maputo and South Africa.
The house was in the Sampene neighbourhood on the outskirts of Quelimane and
held 180 kilograms of cannabis sativa within 625.5 kilograms of drugs in total.[1]Sernic said one of those held used the residence as a warehouse and moved
drugs onward in very small quantities to Maputo province and South Africa.[2]The Tanzanian tenant denied knowledge of the drugs, saying his business was
buying fish, especially crab, to export to Tanzania for onward sale to China.[1]
The same residence also yielded 440 kilos of heroin intended for trafficking.[3]The same house also held 5.5 kilos of morphine alongside the cannabis.[3]Sernic said the heroin had come from Tanzania.[2]Citing United Nations
drug-office figures for East Africa, the authorities put the goods at at least
11 million euros, noting the price varies and multiplies toward the consumer.[3]
Sernic said Quelimane, a city near the Indian Ocean coast and capital of
Zambezia province, was serving as a reception and distribution centre for a
trafficking network.[3]Sernic said investigations were continuing into links
to other criminal networks.[3]Mozambique is described by international
organisations as a corridor for international drug trafficking.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
DW and Club of Mozambique report one Tanzanian and two Mozambicans detained, while Carta de Moçambique reports two detainees in total, so no arrested figure is recorded.
The 440 kilograms of heroin and 5.5 kilograms of morphine are mentioned only to explain the mixed seizure and are excluded from cannabis figures.
The combined total of 625.5 kilograms covers all drugs together and is therefore excluded from cannabis figures.
The reported valuation of at least 11 million euros covers the heroin goods on United Nations drug-office figures, not cannabis alone, and is excluded from cannabis value.
No charges, custody decisions or court outcomes were reported in the accounts opened.
The operation date of 18 March 2021 is used as the incident date; 19 March was the announcement and 20 and 22 March were publication dates.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Deutsche Welle: Sernic officers raided a residence in Quelimane on 18 March and detained people found there, including the Tanzanian tenant and Mozambican associates.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Club of Mozambique: Officers seized 180 kilos of cannabis in the same raid, the cannabis component recorded here.
Police in Govuro district, Inhambane, detained a 38-year-old transporter and seized 240 kg of cannabis packed in seven suitcases at the Save checkpoint. The PRM said the load came from South Africa and was headed for Manica province.
Mozambique's police detained five people in Tete after a dog unit found 21 kg of cannabis hidden in a long-distance truck from Maputo. The drug was packed in 33 parcels among beauty products and animal feed, and a sixth suspect fled.
Maputo police detained a man with 120 bundles of suruma weighing about 100 kg, brought from South Africa in a passenger vehicle and intercepted at the Junta Bus Terminal as he tried to dispatch the load to Tete. Terminal staff raised the alarm after the suspect left before completing shipment.
SERNIC seized about 200 kg of cannabis sativa, known as suruma, hidden in calamidade clothing bales in a minibus at the Mboza checkpoint in Moatize, Tete, bound for Angonia. The driver and conductor were detained, while SERNIC said the cannabis came from Eswatini and could have yielded almost six million meticais.
