Maputo, May 6, 2025 (Lusa) - A Chinese citizen was kidnapped on Monday in the Matlemele neighbourhood on the outskirts of Maputo, southern Mozambique, police investigating the case said on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, this week's highlight is the kidnapping that took place yesterday morning in the province of Maputo, in the Matlemele neighbourhood, where a 22-year-old Chinese citizen was the victim," said Leonel Muchina, spokesperson for the General Command of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM).
At a press conference in Maputo, the Mozambican police said that during the kidnapping, the victim's mother was shot in the foot while trying to help her son.
On 29 April, Mozambique's attorney general, Américo Letela, admitted difficulties in identifying and neutralising those responsible for the kidnappings, denouncing the involvement of members of the police and magistrates in the crime.
‘We continue to record situations involving some people responsible for preventing and combating this crime, such as some police officers who are involved in the preparation, facilitation and execution of kidnappings, as well as magistrates who, motivated by corruption schemes, guarantee impunity or favour offenders through their decisions," said Américo Letela.
Data presented by the public prosecutor's office indicate that in 2024, 32 cases related to this type of crime were opened, with the rescue of at least 13 victims and the arrest of 21 suspects, the seizure of six firearms and the dismantling of three captivity sites.
On 10 April, Mozambique's interior minister acknowledged that kidnapping is a complex, organised and transnational crime that facilitates capital flight and creates feelings of ‘insecurity’, calling on society to report anyone suspected of involvement.
The Mozambican police have recorded at least 205 kidnappings since 2011, according to the government, which acknowledges ‘challenges’ in stopping these events.
In connection with the cases, the Mozambican police have arrested at least 302 people, dismantled several locations used as captivity sites and seized firearms, including movable and immovable property.
Since 2011, a wave of kidnappings has affected Mozambique and the victims are mainly businesspeople and their families, mainly people of Asian descent, a group that dominates trade in the urban centres of the country's provincial capitals.
Around 150 businesspeople have been kidnapped in Mozambique in the last 12 years and around 100 have left the country out of fear, according to figures released in July by the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique, which argued that it was time for the government to take measures to combat this type of crime.
PME/AYLS // AYLS
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