Organized Crime in Mozambique: Challenges and Opportunities

Mozambique is grappling with a multitude of challenges related to organized crime, which poses significant threats to the country’s stability, economy, and territorial integrity.

Key Issues

• State-Embedded Actors: Evidence suggests that high-ranking politicians are involved in criminal markets, often with virtual impunity. Some state-embedded actors own legal ruby companies involved in tax evasion and taking advantage of local populations.
• Foreign Criminal Actors: Chinese, Tanzanian, Somali, Thai, and Pakistani criminal groups operate in Mozambique, engaging in illicit activities such as timber smuggling, ivory trafficking, illegal fishing, human smuggling, and heroin trade.
• Local Criminal Networks: Powerful families control some ports and have strong presence in northern cities, with ties to the political elite and international links to the Pakistani heroin market.

Corrupt Government and Ineffective Law Enforcement

• The Mozambican government is seen as corrupt, with a lack of transparency and accountability.
• The police are described as a mafia group, with officers often engaged in organized-crime activities and used as a hit squad by the government and ruling party.

Poor Judiciary and Lack of National Strategy

• The judiciary is under-resourced, with corruption and links to organized crime. There are no specialized departments focused on countering organized crime.
• Mozambique has no official national strategy on organized crime, despite several local laws and policies related to the issue.

Threats to Territorial Integrity

The intensifying Cabo Delgado conflict contributes to the increasingly vulnerable territorial integrity of the country.

Positive Developments

• International cooperation: Mozambique engages in international cooperation to a limited degree, with ratified treaties on organized crime and joint commitments with China.
• UNODC presence: The UNODC established an office in Maputo and agreed upon a strategic plan with the government to counter the drug trade and organized crime.
• Bank of Mozambique’s stance: The Bank of Mozambique appears to be taking a firmer stance against money laundering, fining commercial banks on a regular basis.