Mozambican police have arrested 10 people, including a suspected soldier, suspected of killing three motorcycle taxi drivers in Tete, central Mozambique, a corporate source told Lusa on Tuesday.
“The three motorcycles that may have been stolen from these victims have already been identified by their families,” said Feliciano da Camara, spokesman for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM).
The group, which was arrested over the weekend and belongs to two gangs, is accused of robbing and killing three motorcycle taxi drivers between the 13th and 23rd of this month in the province. The suspects were posing as customers, Feliciano da Camara said.
Some of those arrested are repeat offenders and one claims to be a member of the Mozambique Defence Forces, police said, adding that investigations were underway to verify the veracity of the information.
“He says he was not working in that province and was on vacation. We are working in coordination with other forces to counter [a informação]”, the representative added.
At least four motorcycle taxi drivers have been killed in Tete this year, bringing the total number of murders in the province to 27, according to PRM data.
In the central region of Mozambique, several cases of murders and attacks on motorcycle taxi drivers with the aim of stealing their motorcycles have been reported in recent months.
In April, a court in Manica, also in central Mozambique, sentenced a man to 30 years in prison for the murder of two motorcycle taxi drivers in 2022.