Corruption and the drug trade

Corruption facilitates the trafficking of drugs in Mozambique. There is a widely-held belief that with sufficient money, traffickers can buy immunity from investigation and prosecution. The relative impunity with which some of the successful traffickers operate is often a result of their close connections with individuals at the highest levels of government or the Frelimo party. At a lower level, customs officials are bribed to facilitate the entry and removal of drugs from the country; immigration officers are bribed to provide identity or residence permits (known as DIREs) for foreigners involved in trafficking; and the police are paid to look the other way or to assist the traffickers. It appears that judicial officers in the legal system are only targeted in the relatively few cases where traffickers are actually brought to trial.

Poor salaries, institutional fragility, and connections with senior government officials therefore fuel corruption and bribery and facilitate the drug trade. Those individuals within government departments who wish to take steps against drug traffickers, such as some members of the police, are often reluctant to proceed because they do not have the political power to counter the existing links between the traffickers and high government officials and politicians. The State Information Security Service (SISE) has on occasion received information about drug consignments about to enter the country, but in many cases they are unable to act because of the connection between organised drug trafficking groups and powerful officials and politicians.¹⁶
 

Money laundering

Money laundering activities in Mozambique are linked primarily to drug trafficking. The profits of the Mozambicans involved in the trafficking amount to millions of US dollars each year. Some of this money is spent on items such as houses and luxury cars, but the traffickers also convert large portions of their proceeds into properties and businesses in the legitimate economy to generate profits or to sell at a later stage without arousing suspicion.¹⁷ It is suspected that this money has contributed to the upsurge in the construction of new buildings in Maputo, Nampula and Pemba. The investment in hotels and tourism is strategic because it is relatively easy to declare more clients than have actually been serviced and thereby disguise profits earned from illicit drug trafficking. During the 1990s, investment in the tourism and banking sectors represented 18 per cent of the decade's total investment.¹⁸

A portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking is channelled to banks abroad and then invested outside the country. Some of the banks, foreign-exchange bureaux and casinos in Mozambique are likely conduits for the laundering of these funds. During 2001, Mozambique had ten banks and about thirty foreign-exchange bureaux, probably more than the legal economy could justify. The main offices of the banks are all in the capital Maputo and so are the majority of exchange bureaux. The surprisingly large number of exchange bureaux was one factor that caused the Bank of Mozambique, the country's central bank, to suspect that they contributed to financial speculation and the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar. During the last three months of 2001, two exchange bureaux were closed by the central bank. Since 11 September 2001, some exchange bureaux and shops have been targeted for investigation on suspicion that they were involved in money laundering activities and might have links to the Al Qaeda network.¹⁹

South African criminal groups are known to have used Mozambique to launder the proceeds of their cross-border criminal activities. This includes money paid to them in exchange for the delivery of stolen vehicles from South Africa. Some investments have been made in the construction industry.

Violence relating to money laundering is not common, but occurs in cases when individuals within the criminal network keep information from other members or when they try to escape from the control of the network. Banking officials who obtain information about laundering activities are also under threat. For example, during 1996 a Portuguese administrator of the International Bank of Mozambique was assassinated, allegedly after receiving information about money laundering transactions occurring through his bank.²⁰ Those who killed him were arrested but the criminal network behind the money laundering activities was never identified or prosecuted. The assassins were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment but have since been released. Such early releases inevitably fuel the public perception that influential criminal groups involved in money laundering are influencing the decisions of prison authorities through bribery and corruption and that this is obstructing justice in Mozambique. Powerful criminal networks can almost be seen as having created a parallel power base from which to challenge the structures and capacity of the state.

Activities relating to money laundering also impact on the national economy. Drug money that is laundered through the banks leads unsuspecting officials to conclude incorrectly that all the money deposited in their bank (including deposits by drug traffickers) comprises funds that originate from an increase in the country's production and general commercial exchange. Banking statistics could therefore provide a skewed picture of the real state of the Mozambican economy and this could have significant consequences, according to the assessment of international experts. Some of them are of the view that the trafficking of drugs is the largest business in Mozambique and that 'The value of illegal drugs which pass through Mozambique probably represents more than the total external commerce all together'.²¹ The profits from this activity, although not declared, could therefore have a large impact on the Mozambican economy. In fact, the money that accrues from drugs could be an important contributing factor to the high growth rate of the Mozambican economy during the past few years. As is to be expected, the extent of money laundering is not covered by official statistics and it is not known whether this activity is increasing.

At the beginning of November 2001, the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, unanimously passed the first reading of a government bill on money laundering. The bill is aimed at money acquired through drug trafficking, gun running, the trade in stolen vehicles, and organised prostitution. Several deputies indicated that they would introduce amendments during the committee stage in order to widen the scope of the bill. Members from the Renamo Electoral Union opposition coalition indicated that they would seek to amend the bill in order to ensure that it also covered funds acquired through 'embezzlement and corruption' and through dealing in contraband goods.
 

Organised assassination groups

According to reliable sources, there are three organised criminal groups in Maputo that, among other things, operate as contract killer squads.²² They are well known and are linked to a number of murders, drug trafficking and dealing in stolen and hijacked motor vehicles. They appear to operate fairly openly and are said to have connections with people in power.

The name of the leader of one of the groups is known. His group consists of about eight men who are Mozambican nationals and who tend to have shaven heads. One of their evening meeting locations is a café close to Gelados Italianos, in Maputo. This group, which does not appear to have a formal structure, has also been linked to armed robbery and the highjacking of luxury vehicles in Maputo as well as South Africa. Some of the stolen vehicles are apparently sold to people in power. Members of this group have in the past been arrested and detained in the Maputo high security prison but then released without trial under suspicious circumstances.

A second group comprises individuals of Asian origin, including Pakistanis, Indians, and Mozambican citizens. The group consists of approximately six individuals whose leader is a Mozambican of Asian origin whose name is known to many, especially in the Asian community, as 'X, the murderer'. He has been arrested on a number of occasions for bribery and also for the murder of a shop owner in Maputo who was allegedly involved in drug trafficking. It is suspected that some Pakistani members of this group have been involved in contract killings. There is evidence that such individuals could have assassinated an Indian trader in Maputo, and also that they participated in an attempt on the life of a well-known lawyer in Maputo. A member of this group was recently arrested but released soon thereafter in dubious circumstances. Neither the investigating police nor the Attorney General's office appear to be proceeding with criminal action against him and, according to reliable information, his release or escape from prison took place after the exchange of thousands of US dollars.

This second group has, since about 1994, been involved in drug trafficking in Mozambique and in missions to recruit individuals into their illegal enterprise. A person believed to be connected with the leader of the group was arrested recently in South Africa and found in possession of mandrax. The group, which allegedly has strong links with individuals within the criminal investigation branch of the police, is also known for its threats to a number of traders in Maputo who owe money. Media reports have referred to threats being made to a Mr Magid, who is involved in a business called the Central Market, the Bikba family, and individuals connected with the Mamade furniture shop. Interestingly, many people from within the Muslim and Indian community know about the existence of this group, but because of the threats of violence and revenge they opt to keep quiet about it. Meetings of this group are held in various places, including the billiard room in the Muslim Community Building and a take-away shop in Maputo.

The third group consists largely of individuals within the police force who are members of the Search and Capture Unit and who allegedly follow orders from some of their superiors. This group has apparently been responsible for the disappearance of a large number of prisoners, a development that was recently denounced by the Human Rights League. It is not known whether this group is motivated by possible financial gain or whether its members regard their actions as part of their job. Police authorities have always denied the existence of such a group, but former prisoners who were contacted, and the Human Rights League, have confirmed its existence.
 

Trafficking in human body parts

According to police sources, there are up to ten groups - each consisting of four or five people, including their contacts in neighbouring countries - involved in the trafficking of human organs. They consist of indigenous Mozambicans and it is not uncommon to find women among their members. They do not have a sophisticated organisational structure and are mostly family based. Although these groups operate mainly in southern Mozambique, for example in Maputo and Xai-Xai, there have been reports of bodies with missing organs in the northern province of Nampula.

As the main market for these groups is in the neighbouring countries of South Africa and Swaziland, they are engaged in a form of transnational organised crime. Their objective is mainly to supply human organs, especially genitals, to traditional healers.

These groups usually kill specifically for the purpose of extracting organs. They rely on two methods: one is to contract with other criminals to murder the victims and then to extract the required organs; the second is to kill the victims themselves. The latter approach is often preferred because there is less risk that information relating to the murder will spread. According to police sources, one of the groups was arrested recently in Nampula Province. Corruption of customs officers is often relied upon when borders have to be crossed to supply organs in neighbouring countries. Police officers who obtain information about the activities of these groups are also bribed. Police statistics do not cover the activities of these groups and it is not known whether their activities are on the increase.

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