Inspectors from the Provincial Directorate of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Mozambican police on Tuesday seized in the northern province of Nampula, about 200 kilos of precious stones valued at 150,000 US dollars.The stones included tourmaline, morganite, fluorite and quartz, and were being stored in the neighbourhood of Muhala, in Nampula city, in the home of a Malian businessman Tairo Dialo. The weight, however, clearly includes the rock in which the stones are embedded.According to the provincial director of Mineral Resources and Energy, Moises Paulino, these precious stones from the provinces of Nampula, Cabo Delgado, Manica and Zambezia, were in transit on their way to the Asian market.Moises Paulino, cited in the Beira newspaper “Diario de Mocambique”, explained that the seizure resulted from information received from the public. He pointed out that the state loses a great deal of money through the illegal export of mineral resources.The director stated that after the arrests Diangana Mamadou, a member of the Malian community, sent a letter to the Provincial Directorate claiming ownership of the stones.Mamadou, the owner of the company Wagadou Commercial, has a license to trade in precious stones and claims that he was only storing the stones in Dialo’s house.However, the inspectors see this as just a ploy to cover up the trafficking.It was at this luxurious mansion that was seized precious stones
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