Residence to be used for kidnappings demolished on Maputo outskirts

The Criminal Investigation Service (Cernic) of Mozambique announced this Friday that it had dismantled a residential building on the outskirts of Maputo that would serve as a prison for a future kidnapping victim in the capital.

“This property could be rented for 25 thousand meticais. [360 euros] per month, for three months, costing 75 thousand metic [1.080 euros]”This is a dwelling that has already been prepared to be used as another captivity here in Matola Rio, in the Jonasse area,” said Hilario Loulé, Sernic’s representative in Maputo.

Chains, nails and hammers were found inside the home, which Sernik suspects were used to restrain the next victim, among other things, and the suspect was arrested for renting the home.

“He could also have been in possession of a GPS-type device that was used to attach it to the victims’ vehicles (…) and track the victims’ movements until they could commit kidnapping crimes,” explained a Sernic spokesman.

According to figures released last week by the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), about 150 businessmen have been kidnapped in Mozambique in the past 12 years, and 100 have fled the country out of fear. The government says: “Enough.”

“They are already on their way to 150. More than a hundred have left the country. We are not talking about those who held administrative or managerial positions, if we count them, there are many more. We are talking about those who occupied the capital.” “They were shareholders of companies,” Pedro Baltasar, president of the CTA’s security and private protection department, told a press conference in Maputo.

“Some 12 years after the first kidnapping, we believe that the government has enough time to apply pressure in a more pragmatic way to end this evil. Therefore, we reiterate the need for the government to take these measures proposed by the private sector,” the CTA leader said, acknowledging the impact of “billions of dollars” on the country’s economy and employment.

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, the interior minister said.

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi acknowledged in July that kidnappings remained a problem in the country and asked police to identify their “masterminds”: “Bring in just one mastermind and you will see that the narrative will change because the people responsible are very scared, we just need to take certain measures and they will soon run away.”