Up to 15 illegal immigrants from Asia and Africa were trafficked every day through Maputo’s Mavalane International airport to neighbouring South Africa, the Mozambican media reported on Saturday.
The weekly O PaÃÂs, an independent newspaper, said in a report that this was done with the involvement of crooked officials from the national police, airports security, immigration and customs officials, and private airport security guards.
National police spokesperson Arnaldo Chefo could neither deny nor confirm the allegations when contacted for comment by the South African Press Association (Sapa) on Saturday.
”Organised crime involves a lot of people. Before we make detailed investigations into the allegations, we can not deny or confirm that our police officers are involved in the crime,” he said in a telephone interview.
Chefo said that in recent months cases of illegal immigrants entering Mozambique from Africa and Asia had increased.
However, most of the illegal immigrants used Mozambique as a gateway to other countries such as South Africa, he said.
O PaÃÂs reported that between 10 and 15 illegal immigrants entered Mozambique with faked documents or without passports after paying corrupt officials amounts ranging from $10 000 and $25 000.
”Well-placed sources” told the newspaper the illegal immigrants, mostly from Asia, were involved in drug and money laundering.
Migration authorities have, in the past, said human traffickers and drug and money launderers favoured Mozambique because mostly its law enforcers were easily bribed.
Illegal immigrants, who asked to remain anonymous, told Sapa in Maputo on Saturday that they paid police and immigration officials to remain in Mozambique.
A Nigerian, known only as Collins, said he had been in Maputo for the past year despite entering the country without a valid passport.
”I just paid at the airport to the immigration official who wanted to stamp my passport, but discovered it had expired long back,” he said.
He would not say how much he paid or what he was doing in Mozambique other than that he was a ”businessman”. – Sapa