Criminal cases related to drug trafficking in Mozambique increased in 2023

Mozambique’s Attorney General (PGR) said on Monday that there were 1,251 criminal cases related to drug trafficking in 2023, up from 1,035 in 2022, warning of an increase in drug trade and consumption in the country.

“We have data from last year that indicates that drug trafficking in our country is growing, we had about 1,251 criminal cases brought,” said Amabelia Chukela, Mozambique’s deputy attorney general, on the sidelines of an event bringing together prosecutors and police. Director of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in Maputo.

Amabelia Chukela said most of the cases filed in 2023 have already been tried and the perpetrators convicted, adding that an internationally wanted drug trafficker was extradited to the Netherlands last year.

“Mozambique is effectively on the drug trafficking route,” the official said.

A deputy prosecutor has expressed concern about the rising levels of drug use in Mozambique, mainly among young people and teenagers, warning of the need to strengthen measures to prevent and combat drug trafficking.

Some international organizations identify Mozambique as a transit corridor for international drug trafficking heading to Europe and the United States, especially heroin from Asia, but seizures of cocaine from South America have also increased.

The meeting in Maputo brings together prosecutors and police directors from CPLP member countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste) for three days to discuss combating organized crime with a focus on terrorism, with plans to define a joint action plan to combat these types of crimes.

LN // MLL

Lusa/The End