Maputo: THE son of former Mozambique’s security minister Mariano Matsinha was arrested early this week by police on charges of illegal possession of rhinoceros horns, report said.
A report in the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique” said Lucilio Matsinha was nabbed near a central Maputo hotel where he it is believed he was set to meet a client for the horns.
Lucilio, who was caught with two rhino horns, is no stranger to alleged criminal activities.
Matsinha was detained in the past for “falsification of precious stones”, according to the police, but was released.
His father, 82 year old Mariano was a senior figure in the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), during the war for independence from Portuguese colonial rule, and held several positions in post-independence governments.
In early September 2019, two poachers were convicted and sentenced for the killing of two rhinos in Limpopo National Park, Mozambique, in a historic court ruling.
Limpopo National Park in southern Mozambique’s Gaza Province borders the Kruger National Park.
The two poachers were handed a 17 year and 16 year sentence, for the crime of slaughtering two protected animals, illegal possession of unlicensed weapons and illegal possession of ammunition.
According to the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), since 2008 over 7,000 rhinos have been killed by poachers in South Africa and Mozambique.
Source: AIM/Additional Reporting by AllNetAfrica
