Maputo, Mozambiwue — The Mozambican police have arrested one more individual in connection with the theft of obsolete pesticides from the Waste Treatment Station in Matola, bringing to nine the number of people detained so far.

According to Thursday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias", only two of the 19 stolen drums, with a capacity of 200 litres each, and eight packages of the pesticides, have been recovered.

The Mozambican environment ministry has warned that these products, stolen in February, are highly toxic and any person who comes into contact with them risks death from ingestion, inhaling or merely through skin contact.

The Ministry has expressed concern over the long time that it is taking to recover the remainder of the pesticides. The Maputo provincial police said that investigations are continuing and believe that it is still possible to recover the stolen products and that more suspects may be detained.

Among the detainees are five workers of the treatment station, two guards of a private security company and two Matola residents.

The pesticides were stolen as the Mozambican government was preparing to export them to Europe for destruction in April or May.

It is presumed that the thieves are not interested in the pesticides, but in selling the drums, which are sought after for storing drinking water, particularly in areas where water is not easily available.