Mozambican police arrest four kidnapping suspects in the capital

Mozambican authorities have arrested four suspects involved in the kidnapping of a businessman just over a week ago in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernik) said on Monday.

“Last week we managed to arrest four men of Mozambican nationality, aged between 26 and 50, who are suspected of participating in the kidnapping” of the businessman, said Hilario Lole, Sernic’s representative in the city of Maputo.

The abduction occurred on September 27 at the business establishment of a businessman of Asian origin in the city of Maputo.

The kidnappers pretended to be shoppers, then threatened the victim with a gun and dragged her into a car, according to images captured by local CCTV and circulated on social media.

According to Mozambique’s criminal investigation service, two of the detainees are employees of the victim’s business enterprise who “did not materially participate in the commission of the kidnapping” but contributed to its commission.

Sernik also said that investigations are being conducted to establish the place where the victim is being held captive, as well as to neutralize other persons involved in the abduction.

Some cities in Mozambique, mainly provincial capitals, have been hit again by a wave of kidnappings since 2020, mainly targeting businessmen or their families.

Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleian said in parliament in May that agents had already been selected to work in the unit to combat kidnappings affecting the country’s main cities.

“The first stage, already completed,” of creating an anti-kidnapping unit “consisted of selecting agents,” and the next stage will be the specialization of personnel and the support of cooperation partners, he continued.

Then Maleyan said that since 2021, 28 cases of kidnapping have been registered in Mozambique, of which “15 have been fully clarified.”