Mozambique's National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has seized 145.65 kilos of methamphetamine at Chocas Mar beach, in Mossuril district in the northern province of Nampula.

The seizure was reported on Monday, 9 November, by the Mozambican news agency AIM. In a statement, SERNIC announced the recovery of the drugs at the beach location in Mossuril, a coastal district in Nampula province.

Further details of the operation, including whether any arrests were made, were not included in the report available at publication. SERNIC is Mozambique's criminal investigation service, and it regularly announces drug seizures made during its operations across the country.

A known trafficking corridor

The seizure is the latest in a series of large drug recoveries in northern Mozambique. In February 2025, SERNIC officers in the same district, Mossuril, seized a combined 132 kilos of drugs — 42 kilos of heroin and 90 kilos of methamphetamine — hidden in bowls wrapped in plastic in two vehicles, and arrested two men suspected of involvement.

Mozambique is identified by international organisations as a transit corridor for illicit drugs bound for South Africa and beyond. Reporting on the routes has described an Afghanistan–Pakistan–Pemba–Zambézia–Maputo–South Africa corridor for methamphetamines, heroin and amphetamines, a São Paulo–Addis Ababa–Maputo–South Africa route for cocaine, and an India–Mozambique route for hashish.

According to a report by the Central Office for Drug Prevention and Control, Mozambican authorities seized approximately 4.4 metric tons of illicit drugs in 2025, worth more than $2.8 million, in operations that also led to the detention of more than 600 people.

Cartel warnings and airport seizures

SERNIC has also warned of the presence of international trafficking networks operating in the country. In October 2026, SERNIC Director-General Ilídio Miguel told a national drug-prevention conference in Maputo that Mexican cartels, a Brazilian criminal organisation and a Pakistani network were active in Mozambique, and expressed concern about the use of corruption to help them infiltrate state institutions.

Large seizures have also been made at Maputo International Airport this year. SERNIC announced the seizure of 3.7 tonnes of material identified as fentanyl at the airport in June 2026, and a further 1.4 tonnes in August, in shipments that had arrived by air cargo.

Mozambique's long northern coastline, with its many small beaches and fishing settlements, has made it a difficult stretch of coast to police, and traffickers have repeatedly used the sea route to move drugs into the country before sending them onward by road toward the south.

The latest seizure at Chocas Mar beach underlines the scale of the trafficking challenge on Mozambique's northern coastline, where drugs arriving by sea can be moved onward through Nampula province towards the south of the country.