Drug consumption and trafficking: Public prosecutor's office initiates over 1,200 criminal cases

According to the PGR, this rising trend is due to vulnerabilities at certain border points, contributing to the increased trafficking and drug consumption in Mozambique.

Anabela Chuquela, spokesperson for the Meeting of Attorneys General and Directors of Police and Criminal Investigation Services of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), warned that Mozambique is on the route for international drug trafficking and terrorism.

"We are concerned not only with drug trafficking but also with the consumption that has been increasing in our country, focusing on young people and adolescents. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen prevention," she said.

With the two-day meeting currently underway in Maputo, the PGR aims to reinforce legal and judicial cooperation, outline strategies to enhance the criminal investigation police's performance in the instruction and prosecution of organized and transnational crime.

"We already have ongoing cases, and a large part of them were judged, and the responsible parties were convicted. It is worth mentioning that last year Mozambique extradited a trafficker to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who was internationally wanted, and in 2022 another trafficker was extradited to the United States of America."

Chuquela announced that, in addition to land borders and airports, there are various points of drug entry and exit, which is why the issue was scheduled for the current CPLP meeting.

In turn, the Attorney General of São Tomé and Príncipe, Kelve Nobre de Carvalho, revealed that due to his country's island location, maritime operations and assistance focus on the Gulf of Guinea, while the logistical part of the drug comes from Latin America.

"With Mozambique, we have already had an experience of a joint criminal investigation team; we have experience in training magistrates here in Mozambique, training the police, and being here for us is always like returning to a brother's house that helps us in criminal investigation." 

The Attorney General's Office of São Tomé and Príncipe has been seizing amounts of cocaine at airports and ports as well as goods derived from the proceeds of crime.