TimesLIVE Investigations
Kidnappings for ransom – part one: from Mozambique with greed
SA ‘is losing war on kidnapping because of corruption and infighting in Crime Intelligence’
24 February 2022 - 19:38
TimesLIVE Investigations found South African kidnapping-for-ransom syndicates emerged after gaining experience from their Mozambican counterparts, who started the scourge.
The son of a Mozambican mining magnate and his childhood friend are allegedly part of a network of wealthy Mozambicans orchestrating SA’s high-profile kidnappings, assisted by corrupt police officers and cash-in-transit robbers.
A TimesLIVE investigation has established that a central feature in SA’s major kidnapping gangs are teams of police officers from crime intelligence, the Hawks, traffic departments and flying squads who provide information, uniforms, weapons and facilitate escapes on major road networks or conduct fake roadblocks to kidnap victims...
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