Capitalising on criminality: a new lusophone route through Mozambique

Mozambique is becoming recognised as an emerging hub for cocaine trafficking, with links stretching back to Brazil. The arrest of a well-known associate of Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) suggests the emergence of a new ‘lusophone route’ driven by the group. Mozambique’s connection to other illicit flows – heroin and methamphetamines from the Makran Coast, and natural resources moving outward – provides the infrastructure to begin moving a new commodity through the country, however the PCC should not expect a silent partner in Mozambique. Political elites have played a key role in other illicit flows, and there is no reason to suggest cocaine would be any different.