“The kidnappers abandoned him on a public road and informed the family who went there to retrieve the body,” explained Lusa Henrique Mendez, spokesperson for the National Criminal Investigation Service (CERNIC) in Maputo province.
According to police, the businessman, who was abducted on December 14, was abandoned in Txumene, a suburb of Maputo, and showed injuries and signs of aggression.
The businessman was abducted by an armed group in front of one of his business establishments in Mattola.
A video captured by surveillance cameras at the crime scene shows the exact moment a group of four men dragged the businessman to a vehicle in broad daylight.
Maputo and other Mozambican cities, mainly provincial capitals, have been the scene of renewed waves of trafficking since 2020, mainly targeting businessmen or their family members.
Between January and November, Mozambique recorded 11 cases of people-trafficking and 27 arrests related to crimes, according to data provided by Interior Minister Arsenia Massingu.
In an assessment on crime submitted in early June, the Attorney General of the Republic of Mozambique, Beatrice Buchili, said that trafficking crimes are on the rise and that criminal groups have cross-border branches and maintain cells in countries such as South Africa.
According to the magistrate, the victims are “constantly intimidated” even after their release, with continued payments to ensure they are not trafficked again.
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