18 April 2007
Maputo — Violent criminal gangs in Maputo have scored a major victory by forcing the General Police Command to disband the "Mamba Brigade", a unit set up five years ago, specifically to crack down on gun-related crime, and hunt down gang members.
But organised crime reacted, and far from the police hunting the criminals, members of the Mamba Brigade found that they were being targeted, and eliminated.
Police command spokesperson Pedro Cossa, cited in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", said that the decision to disband this unit was taken months ago after finding that its members were at serious risk of assassination.
The gangland attempt to wipe out the Mambas became particularly clear when Mamba commander, Isaias Tchavane, was murdered in June 2006, in the Maputo outer suburb of Triunfo.
In August two other members of the brigade were assassinated in Machava, on the outskirts of the city.
"After a serious reflection on what was going on, we decided that we should change our strategy," said Cossa. "This was the best way we found to preserve the lives of those of our agents who were still left. Most criminals saw them as targets because of their good performance against organized crime".
Of course, Cossa denied that this move represents a defeat when faced with criminals, explaining that this is just a change in the way the police are operating.
The former members of the Mamba Brigade have been placed in other units doing the same work and, in order to protect them, they have been transferred to other parts of the country.
"Because they represent a serious target for the criminals, it was decided to transfer them to other provinces.
Unfortunately, the two colleagues murdered in Machava had been appointed to Zambezia, but they had not yet received the transfer documents", said Cossa.
Asked about reports that criminals had managed to infiltrate the Mamba Brigade, Cossa declined to comment, but he admitted that there had been a "worrying relaxation", so that not all the unit's operations had the desired effect.
The police blame the gang led by notorious criminal Agostinho Chauque for the assassination of the Mambas. Although Chauque's right hand man, Mario Mandonga, was recently killed in a shootout with the police, Chauque is thought to be still at large.
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