(Posted 09th January 2024)
Courtesy of African Elephant News and Club of Mozambique
The National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) in Tete seized four ivory tusks about to be sold to Mozambican citizens, leaving Three individuals now in police custody in connection with the case.
The four tusks, weighing 30 kilograms, were seized on Sunday at the home of one of the detainees in the district of Mágoè. The ivory was reportedly about to be sold to Mozambicans for 150,000 meticais.
One of the members of the group denies involvement in the crime and claims to have been merely an intermediary, while another suspect says that his main task in the negotiations was to photograph and send the photo of the product to the potential buyer.
“My neighbour only asked me to take a photo. He said that after he closed the deal, he would give me a little,” he said.
Sernic spokesperson in Tete, Celina Roque, says that the fourth member of the group, considered the ringleader, was still at large, explaining that the ivory tusks were sourced in Mágoè National Park.
“We have a fugitive, and agents from the two institutions mentioned are already on the ground in a bid to neutralize the criminal,” Roque said.
