The Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) have arrested five South African nationals for illegal possession of weapons and using forged documents, a spokesman for the corporation in the city of Maputo said on Tuesday.
“The first thing that was discovered was that they had false documents,” Leonel Muchina said at a press conference in Maputo today, adding that they also did not have a permit to carry weapons.
The group, arrested on Sunday on the outskirts of Mozambique’s capital with two weapons and 29 rounds of ammunition, said they were heading to Magudo, Maputo province, for a family ceremony.
Authorities suspect the group may be involved in a wave of kidnappings that has hit the country’s major urban centres.
“We are in a special context where we are dealing with kidnappings, and on several occasions, kidnapping groups have used weapons with these characteristics,” Mucina said.
By March, Mozambique police had recorded a total of 185 kidnapping cases and at least 288 people had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the crime since 2011, official figures show.
Most kidnappings carried out in Mozambique are staged outside the country, particularly in South Africa, making it difficult to combat the crime, the country’s attorney general, Beatriz Buchili, told parliament in April, adding that authorities also believed the directors were living in the neighbouring country.