he Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, made up of a network of 600 global and regional experts, denounces the existence of a criminal network that is decimating wild animals of important commercial value in the Niassa reserve in Mozambique.

According to RM, criminals from the Chiponde border, which marks the boundary between Mozambique and Malawi, have access to Niassa province via the Mandimba border.

A 30-month investigation by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, which aims to combat criminal networks, has revealed that converging transnational operations include the illegal wildlife trade, the trafficking of precious stones and the smuggling of a pesticide banned in Mozambique.

In Malawi, according to the investigation report, wildlife traffickers place orders from Niassa in Mozambique with their intermediaries.

Ivory, pangolin scales, lion's teeth and claws are the products traded. The brokers are mainly traders in precious stones from Malawi.

In Niassa province, according to RM, quoting the Malawi-based newspaper The Times, the managers of this network hire Mandimba poachers to obtain products from the Niassa reserve, one of the largest protected wildlife areas in Mozambique, covering more than 42,000 square kilometers.

The report also states that poachers are using a poison to decimate animals in the Niassa reserve, and points to miners of rubies and other precious stones as the main protagonists.

Once acquired, the wildlife products are transported along with precious stones to Lichinga, from where they are trafficked to the Chiponde border post via Mandimba.

Here, with the connivance of the border guards and customs, the products are smuggled directly to Lilongwe or head west, where they are transported by fishing boats from Mponda to Senga Bay in Salima and then on to Lilongwe.

The spokesperson for the Malawi Police Service, Peter Kalaya, said that some of the facts narrated in the report were true.

Kalaya said that the police are currently working on several cases and have some suspects in pre-trial detention, while others are serving prison sentences. (RM)