The $100m contribution heroin makes to Mozambique each year
Research has found that SA’s neighbour is a significant heroin transit centre, with the narcotic probably the country’s largest or second-largest export after coal
Mozambique boasts giant coal, ruby and gas deposits but one of the southeast African nation’s biggest exports may be something a lot more sinister: heroin. As much as $800m worth of the narcotic is shipped annually from its beaches to neighbouring countries and to Europe. That is according to a research paper by Enact, an EU-funded initiative to mitigate the impact of transnational organised crime, and a related working paper by Joseph Hanlon, visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. "Mozambique is a significant heroin transit centre and the trade has increased to 40 tonnes or more per year, making it a major export which contributes up to $100m per year to the local economy," Hanlon said. "With an export value of $20m per tonne, heroin is probably the country’s largest or second-largest export after coal." The value of Mozambique’s coal exports more than doubled to $1.7bn last year, as production and prices rose, according to data from the cen...
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