The Mozambican National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) confirmed this Thursday to Lusa the release of the Portuguese businessman kidnapped on October 7, in the center of Maputo, which, in its opinion, is the result of the work done by the police authorities.
“In fact, the citizen has been in family life since the day before yesterday [terça-feira]. He ended up being released and, based on the contacts we have with the family, there is no indication that there was any type of rescue”, Sernic spokesperson Hilário Lole told Lusa this Thursday.
The official said he believes that the release of the 69-year-old businessman, who also has Mozambican nationality, is the result of pressure exerted by police authoritiesin efforts to solve the crime.
“We believe that [a libertação do empresário] it results from the work that is being done, from the pressure that is being placed on these individuals, who ended up, perhaps, preferring to free the citizen. But even so, work continues to be able to neutralize these individuals”, he pointed out.
According to Lole, the victim still did not make a statement to the policenow being recover from the period he was in captivity.
“He [empresário português] You still need time to recover, with your family and then we can have some contribution from you. But we have a lot of information on the subject in our database and what he will say will greatly help to add some more value to the work that is being done”, he concluded.
On Wednesday, a source from the victim’s family confirmed to Lusa that the businessman was released the day before and that was already at his residencein Maputo, the country’s capital, but without providing further details.
The kidnapping in Maputo
The businessman was rfitting already downtown Maputoin front of his commercial establishment, by a group traveling in a white car without a license plate, in the first case of its type known publicly since June 2025 in Mozambique.
On January 26, the victim’s family launched a public petition expressing “deep concern” about the disappearance of the citizen, without until now there was clear public information about his whereabouts or about conclusive progress in the investigations, asking for the support of the Portuguese Judicial Police.
Sernic announced, on October 7th, the arrest of two men suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of the Portuguese businessman.
“We want to confirm the arrest of two national citizens, aged between 30 and 46”, said João Adriano, Sernic spokesperson in Maputo, at a press conference, presenting the two suspects to journalists.
The spokesperson said that the investigation was taking “great steps” toward resolving the crime and reiterated that the “greatest need” was to bring the victim back to family life: “Based on the results obtained, we are aware that we will soon invite the press to comment on the location.”
According to João Adriano, the suspects, who are part of a ggroup of eight people involved in the kidnapping, they were arrested on national road 4 (N4), in the district of Moamba, in the province of Maputo, south of the country, when they were being transported in one of the vehicles used during the crime.
