28 November 2008
Maputo — Mozambican authorities have arrested two Pakistani nationals in possession of 2,342,000 dollars, 122,490 euros and 25.000 pounds at the Machipanda border, in the central province of Manica, during a joint operation carried out with the Customs and the Border Guard on Wednesday evening.
The two Pakistani national have been identified as Muhamad Ali Nazim, 25, and Syet Muhamad, 26, reports the Thursday's issue of the independent daily "O Pais".
The money was wrapped inside plastic bags and concealed inside the trunk of the car they were driving, a Toyota Mark II, carrying number plates with the inscription MLW-11-42. The bulk of the money are 50 dollars and 200 euros notes.
To deceive the authorities the trunk of the car was entirely welded, forming a container, which forced the authorities to cut open the trunk to recover the money.
One of the suspects, who is able to communicate in Portuguese, claimed to be based "for sometime" in the city of Beira, capital of the central province of Sofala.
The other suspect, who can hardly communicate in Portuguese, said to have arrived in Mozambique "seven days ago".
However, both claim their innocence, saying that they were unaware of large sum of money inside their car.
They also claimed to be heading to Zimbabwe, to renew their visa to stay in Mozambique, when one of their acquaintances offered his car in town of Inchope, capital district of Nhamatanda, central province of Sofala, for the pair to complete their journey.
Meanwhile, it is still unknown their final destination, including of the car they were driving.
Inside the car, the Mozambican authorities found a passport of a female Pakistani national identified as Fayza Zakir, 32, who is believed to be in Mozambique.
Sources close to the case said that the police was investigating the pair for some time.
Moises Paulino, head of the Customs in Manica, cited on the Thursday's issue of the daily "Noticias" confirms that huge sum of money was seized by the police, while Pedro Manuel Jemusse, head of the Public Relations Department of the PRM in Manica said that tight security has been mobilized to count the money.
The police tried to borrow note-counting machines from the local branch of the International Bank of Mozambique (BIM), in the district of Manica. However, the branch manager said that they did not have machines to count dollars and euros notes.
Thus, the money counting exercise had to be extended until late in the night, finishing about 11.00 PM.
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