AfricaPress-mozambique: The Mozambican customs authorities in the northern port of Nacala have aborted an attempt to export illegally four containers full of unprocessed logs, according to a report in Tuesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”.
Under Mozambican legislation, it is illegal to export wood that has not been processed.
The four containers were destined for China. The wood came from trees that had been logged in the central province of Zambezia and was owned by an exporter named Bajone.
Officials in the Zambezia Forestry Services collaborated in the exporter’s criminal activity. They gave the go-ahead to exporting the containers, and issued documents stating that the wood had been processed.
But when customs officers in Nacala opened the containers they found this was a straightforward lie, and that the wood had undergone no form of processing at all. The paper’s sources said that the Zambezia officials have been detained, but declined to name them.
This is the second time this month that illegal exports of timber have been aborted in Nacala. On 11 June, five containers of logs were seized when they were about to be exported.
“Carta de Mocambique” also reports that in Sofala province police have seized three trucks laden with logs. The trees had been cut down illegally in the neighbouring province of Manica
