Maputo – Mozambique police said Thursday they had seized 1.4 tonnes of the highly potent drug fentanyl that had arrived at the main international airport from Brazil.
It was the second major seizure of the opioid in the southern African country since 3.7 tonnes was discovered in the warehouses of a private company at Maputo Airport in June.
A 31-year-old Mozambican citizen who came to collect the consignment was arrested, the Sernic crime investigative unit said in a statement.
The latest shipment arrived in three batches this month from Sao Paulo via the Angola capital Luanda, Sernic said. It was packaged in 207 boxes containing bottles of liquid cosmetics, it said.
“Forensic investigations confirmed it was a synthetic drug called fentanyl, with a high addictive potential,” the statement said.
Seizures of fentanyl, the drug underpinning a deadly epidemic in the United States, have until recently been rare in Mozambique.
The Indian ocean country is already considered a transit point for other drugs being shifted between continents, including heroin and cocaine.
Mozambique authorities in April arrested two Mexican nationals suspected of links to drug cartels and confiscated drug-making chemicals.
According to the government, authorities seized more than 4.4 tonnes of illicit drugs in 2025 alone, including significant volumes of cocaine and cannabis.
Neighbouring South Africa has carried out several raids in recent years targeting methamphetamine laboratories where Mexican nationals were operating.
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Source: AFP
