Maputo — Joint operations between the police forces of Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Zimbabwe have led to the recovery of 132 stolen vehicles and eight motorbikes in Maputo city and province in the space of four days, according to a report in Saturday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias".

This operation, codenamed "Mongoshe II", also involves the Mozambican customs service, the Attorney-General's Office, the National Traffic Institute (INAV), and the sub-regional office of Interpol. It is scheduled to end in the middle of next week.

The operation is being carried out to implement decisions of the regional police cooperation body, SARPCCO, for preventing and fighting cross-border crime The vehicles seized are in the hands of the Maputo police, and those that were stolen beyond Mozambique's borders will be returned to their countries of origin, and to their rightful owners.

One problem for this sort of operation is that some cars reported as stolen, have in fact been sold, and the purchasers may have acquired them in good faith. Such cars are reported to the South African police as stolen, in order to defraud the insurance companies.

According to the Mozambican police, "Mongoshe II" is not aimed exclusively at stolen vehicles - the police also hope to seize drugs and illegal firearms.