The Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) have arrested a man and a friend suspected of trying to sell two grandchildren to a shopkeeper for 350,000 meticais in order to remove organs, in the city of Dondo, Sofala province, in the center of the country.

"We are in a flagrant situation of trafficking in human beings, in which the individuals who were presented here allegedly tried to sell two individuals for amounts estimated at 350,000 meticais," said Dercio Chacate, spokesman for the PRM provincial command in Sofala.

According to the police, the men offered to sell the two children to a shopkeeper after taking them from their parents' home in the Marromeu district last Saturday.

"The police found out about this incident through a popular complaint, and are being supported by the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) to try and find the perpetrator," added the spokesman, pointing out that in this case, it was the shopkeeper himself who called the police and reported the grandfather and his friend, who were then arrested.

However, the minors have already been returned to their families, according to the PRM.