The Mozambican police have arrested at least seven informal market vendors in Maputo, accused of involvement in the illegal sale of primary school text books intended for free distribution, reports Friday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias".
The police say that they have seized about 900 of those books, that are being kept with the police until the case is sorted out.
The Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) believe that those arrested are an essential link in the criminal chain, and can help explain how the entire network functions, from the source to the books' appearance on the informal market.
The education authorities are concerned, not merely with seizing the books, but with discovering the source of the books on sale on the streets of Maputo and other cities across the country, because the distribution involves selected companies that collect the books at the port and channel them to the beneficiary schools.
Speaking of the books seized in Maputo in May, the commander of the Maputo municipal police, Alberto Mulhanga, said that his corporation had thought it logical to hand them to the education authorities for distribution.
But PIC thought otherwise, and decided to keep the books under their care, arguing that they are necessary as evidence in their investigation, and since then the books have been sitting in the PIC offices.
"When this problem arose, we planned what we should do, together with the education authorities and the trade directorate. Better than just seizing the books, our objective was to identify the network, from where they diverted until the point of sale", said Mulhanga.
He added that "currently, we lack the information to proceed. We do not know the stage of the PIC investigations, which should uncover everything about this illicit trade".
The general inspector in the Education Ministry, Eurico Banze, finds it difficult to understand why it is taking so long to sort out the matter, because besides PIC there are other institutions, such as the municipal police and the Trade Inspectorate, that should work to check this illicit practice.
"We are waiting for the results of the work being done by PIC but, given the situation, we feel forced to question what role the city trade authorities are playing in this process. What we would like to know is how these books are found on sale in the streets, who is supplying the vendors, and where are they taken from? That is what is important for us" said Banze.
"Why do the relevant authorities not act when goods are found on illicit sale in the streets?", he questioned.
Fonte: AIM
