Good afternoon. Have criminal gangs met their match in the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic)? Last weekend saw Sernic raid on black market outlets in the cities of Maputo and Matola selling car parts. It is the latest in a string of cases where Sernic has shown a new energy and capability to go after criminals, including people in important positions in public life who in the past were protected from justice.
Recently, Sernic officers have arrested officials at the Ministry of Finance’s treasury department and at the Tax Authority, on suspicion of VAT fraud; it has carried out arrests in a hospital in the city of Vilankulo after a woman died in circumstances where negligence was suspected; and has investigated child abuse in Cabo Delgado. It has also moved quickly on cases like the recent death of a provincial judge in Tete province (Sernic found that he had suffocated in his car) and the death of the Portuguese banker Pedro Ferraz dos Reis last month. While Sernic’s initial finding of suicide in the latter case (issued within 24 hours) was received sceptically by the public, it was upheld by a Portuguese police investigation. Sernic has also prevented any successful kidnappings so far this year (although it remains concerning that some suspected kidnappers were shot dead, something that will fuel the suspicion that they were silenced to protect kidnapping bosses and their friends in politics).
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A particularly high-profile case for Sernic recently has been the investigation of the embezzlement of food aid for flood victims by officials in Gaza province. At least nine people have been arrested so far, including one working in the provincial governor’s office. Many people have been outraged by the scandal, but Sernic’s work in going after politically connected people has met with approval.
