Maputo, May 15, 2026 (Lusa) – Italian businessman Humberto Sartone, detained in Maputo on suspicion of trafficking and money laundering, was found dead on Friday in the maximum security prison where he had been held since April, the prison service said.
The General Directorate of the National Penitentiary Service (Sernap) stated in a communiqué that guards found the man on the floor of his cell at 8:30 a.m. local time (7:30 a.m. in Lisbon), "apparently without signs of life" at the Machava Special Maximum Security Prison (BO) on the outskirts of the Mozambican capital.
The National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) inspected the scene and confirmed the death. Sernap guaranteed it would "ascertain the real circumstances" of the death of the man, who had started a hunger strike following his detention.
Humberto Sartone, owner of the Kaya Kwanga lodge, in a prime area of Maputo, was detained on 21 April alongside alleged associates following search and seizure operations. The high-profile case involves allegations of links between the Italian and the interests of influential Mozambican groups.
The detained associates include Saleem Karim, Tarmomed Valai Mahomed, a Mozambican businessman of Pakistani origin, and his son, Anass Tarmomed, Sernic spokesperson Hilário Lole told Lusa at the time.
Authorities suspect the individuals belong to an organised crime network involved in money laundering and document forgery, Lole said.
Sernap previously expressed concern regarding the Italian's hunger strike.
"He voluntarily refuses to ingest food, maintaining this position until the present moment, a fact that generated concern from the prison management," Sernap said in a statement at the time.
Sernap said that they informed the family and notified Sartone's legal representative to "persuade him to abandon the strike." Despite the efforts, the suspect kept his position.
The organisation said that it was monitoring the situation responsibly, ensuring respect for the inmate's fundamental rights and "strict compliance with the legal and humanitarian norms in force" in Mozambique.
Mozambique ranks among the African countries with high criminality and low resilience to organised crime, alongside Angola, based on the "Africa Organised Crime Index 2025" presented in Kenya last November.
The report, which quantifies organised crime and resilience rates across African nations on a scale of one to 10, placed Mozambique in eighth position with a score of 6.63. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) led the continental classification with 7.47.
The Portuguese-speaking country’s score increased by 0.43 since 2023, the year of the previous organised crime report.
VIYS/RYOL // AYLS
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