Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) on Wednesday publicly presented three members of a gang of six criminals who allegedly shot down a citizen and stole large sums of money from him right in front of a bank branch in June, in the northern city of Nampula.
Briefing reporters in Nampula, SERNIC spokesperson Enina Tsinine said thorough investigation by the police led to the arrest of these gang members who also committed crimes in Maputo and Zambezia provinces. In Nampula alone, the criminal gang staged crimes which gained them over four million meticais (about 63,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate).
“After the violent crime, the ringleader left Nampula to Maputo where police investigations are underway to discover his whereabouts,” Tsinine said. She added out that the clues followed by the authorities led to the arrest of one gang member known as “bishop” who played an important role in the crimes.
The so-called bishop, she said, is a religious leader who stored, at church facilities, resources such as the firearms the gang used to stage its robberies. The firearms, acquired in Maputo, were taken to Nampula by the girlfriend of the ringleader still on the run.
“His girlfriend confessed to ferrying firearms from one place to another, travelling on board a City Link passenger service bus, which connects several Mozambican provinces. A thorough investigation has been launched to clear up the matter and security has been boosted at police checkpoints,” Tsinine added.
She stated that the gang carried out several robberies in November 2020 but also in March and June this year, when they mugged people who were carrying large amounts of cash, either when leaving their companies or near the bank branch where they intended to deposit the money.
The men now under arrest, however, deny any involvement in the crimes, even though they acknowledge that the ringleader on the run is a close friend.
