MOZAMBICAN DRUG MULES REPATRIATED

MAPUTO - More than 50 Mozambicans jailed in Brazil for drug
trafficking will be repatriated to the southern African country this
year, while a Brazilian will be sent home from Mozambique.

Mozambican justice minister Esperanca Machavele, and Leda Lucia
Martins Camargo, the Brazilian ambassador in Maputo, signed an accord
to facilitate the transfer this week.

The 52 Mozambican drug mules will be transferred this year while the
Brazilian also finish his prison term in his country of origin.

The accord was facilitated by another one, which was ratified by
parliaments of the two countries to conform with international
legislation on transfer of prisoners.

The aim of the transfer is to reduce international crime and also to
send prisoners nearer to their homes.

For the past six months the number of Mozambican women travelling to
Brazil to traffic drugs has increased, a trend that caused authorities
to seek solutions.

Most of the drug traffickers carry the drugs in their stomachs from
Brazil to Mozambique where the drugs are then forwarded to South
African and European markets.

Since the beginning of the year the Mozambican government has
incinerated hauls of drugs, including cocaine and hashish confiscated
in raids organised by the police and border authorities.