Police have arrested three people involved in the kidnapping of a Portuguese-Mozambican woman who was held captive for 50 days.

Mozambican police have arrested three people involved in the kidnapping of a 26-year-old Portuguese-Mozambican woman who was held captive for 50 days early Thursday and are searching for a fourth element believed to be a “key player” in that and other cases.

“We have information about one more person who is playing a key role in clearing up this kidnapping case. We are working and believe that at any moment we can obtain the results of the same work,” said this Thursday Hilario Lole, spokesman for the National Directorate of Criminal Investigations. The Maputo service talks to journalists.

The victim was abducted near his home in central Maputo on November 1 by three armed men, with Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) previously confirming it was monitoring the case.

“This work was not a paid ransom, but rather a rescue thanks to Sernik in collaboration with other forces (…) There was no need to pay an amount to save this victim,” the spokesman also said, assuring that the Operations would be carried out. Work is now underway to identify those who ordered the crime.

The victim was rescued from her home in Bairro Liberdad, Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo, and two suspected security guards who had been following her since November 1 were arrested at the scene, police said.

Hilario Lole clarified to reporters that “information” had been received about the location of the captivity and that forces had begun a rescue operation yesterday morning.

“She will be taken to a medical facility for an in-depth assessment of the current state of her health, and as a result of this work, only two people can be neutralized on the spot. At subsequent stages, it was possible to neutralize a third person, who is also part of this gang,” he added.

Efforts are still ongoing to identify “other individuals belonging to this gang,” Sernik said, given suspicions that they are involved in other kidnapping cases in the country.

“Most of the cases are committed by the same people and the perpetrators are the same, and we believe that through these steps we will all be able to obtain information about other captives who are still in possession of kidnapped victims,” he also said.

According to Sernik, there have already been six cases of kidnapping in Maputo “who were executed” and another five attempts, in this case stopped due to the intervention of the police, the police themselves or even the population.

“Unfortunately, we have two victims in captivity,” concluded Hilario Lole.

For several weeks now, Maputo has been experiencing a new wave of kidnappings, especially of businessmen: two Portuguese of Mozambican origin have been targeted since November, and there are also suspicions that agents connected to the police investigation are involved in this type of crime.