Maputo — The Mozambican authorities in Dondo district in the central province of Sofala have seized 50 containers full of logs, which were apparently about to be exported illegally from the country.
According to the independent television station STV, a routine inspection, involving staff of the Sofala provincial environment directorate , and of the forestry and wildlife services, discovered the containers in the yard of a Chinese-owned company, Afanti Trading.
The containers held logs of sandalwood and black chacate trees.
The authorities believe the company intended to export the wood to China, in violation of Mozambican legislation which prohibits the export of unprocessed logs, in order to force logging companies to process at least some of their timber in Mozambique, thus promoting local industrialisation and employment.
The amount of logs in the containers is estimated at 700 cubic metres.
