The Mozambican authorities in the city of Pemba, capital of the northern province of Cabo Delgado have seized 63 containers full of precious hardwoods that were about to be illegally exported to China.

According to the television station STV, the containers held 1,000 cubic metres of blackwood (pau preto), a hardwood that may not be logged or exported. They were detected by the Environmental Quality Control Agency (AQUA) on 27 July when 20 of the 63 containers were about to be exported. Investigations revealed that a further 43 containers were in Montepuez district, in the Sain Funer Timber yard, which operates with a licence from the Chinese-owned company, Miti.

The customs service and the Cabo Delgado provincial attorney's office confirmed that they are investigating the circumstances leading up to the attempt to export forbidden timber.

Miti is the company which in 2021 forfeited 13,000 cubic metres of illegal timber to the State, which had been seized at its yards in Muxungue and Sena in the central province of Sofala. That timber was sold at public auction, and the company was fined 29 million meticais (about US$453,000).

Pemba port has been used previously to export timber illegally to China. In December 2020, 76 containers were exported from Pemba to China. On that occasion, the Chinese authorities cooperated and the timber was recovered and later sold at auction. Nine people were arrested in connection with this case, including a Chinese citizen and several Pemba customs officials.