Maputo, Mozambique — The current crackdown on crime in Maputo has so far led to the arrest of 3,304 people, broken up 36 criminal gangs, 16 of which specialised in armed robbery, according to Mozambican Interior Minister Almerino Manhenje Tuesday in Maputo.
He was speaking in parliament in response to questions from the ruling Frelimo Party concerning the government's response to the latest crime wave in the country.
Manhenje said that the total number of armed criminals arrested in the crackdown was 96, including some of those responsible for grisly murders in the Maputo suburbs, notably the shooting of four people in a bar in Polana-Canico.
The man accused of this crime, a gangster known by the nickname "Mulatinho," was arrested last Friday, the minister announced. He was caught red-handed when he attacked a woman, from whom he attempted to steal 1,000 rands (about 130 US dollars).
The police operation also concentrated on the Maputo hillsides overlooking the Indian Ocean. Paths down these hills provide convenient, but dangerous short cuts for people wishing to walk from the higher to the lower parts of the city. Gangs of criminals frequently waylay people using these paths, robbing, raping and even murdering them.
The police operations on the hills rounded up 617 alleged criminals, he said.
Manhenje said that the police had also struck at parts of the city so notorious for the sale of illicit drugs that they are popularly known as "Columbias." One such "Columbia" is in the military neighbourhood where demobilised soldiers are involved in the drugs trade.
The minister said that the police had arrested 168 drug dealers and users, and seized 99 packages of hashish, 320 grams of cocaine, and 30 doses of heroine.
In the period from 26 February to 31 March, the police had also seized 460 vehicles, said Manhenje.
In some cases, this was because their owners had altered the vehicles' original characteristics, notably by putting smoked glass in the windows.
The police believe that this type of glass is used by criminals to hide their faces, and ensure that no one can see when they are carrying guns. One of the cars used in the 22 November murder of Mozambique's best-known journalist, Carlos Cardoso, was said to have smoked glass in its side windows.
