Serious and Organised Crime in Mozambique

Siân Herbert

June 2025

Question

What evidence is there on organized crime in Mozambique? Focus on:

- The main criminal markets, actors, and the dynamics —including any relevant regional dynamics or impacts specifically on the UK; and
- The impact of the criminality/level of harm, and what activities have been conducted to specifically disrupt organized crime?

Summary

This K4DD Rapid Evidence Review explores the main serious and organised crime (SOC) markets, actors, and dynamics in Mozambique.

It particularly draws on literature from think tanks and practitioner sources, due to the applied nature of the question and its proximity to foreign policy and security interests, as well as academic and policy sources. Literature and data is limited by the illicit nature of the subject.

Due to the limited timeframe for this work, this rapid literature review is illustrative of the main issues, but is not comprehensive.