Mozambican police announced on Wednesday in central Tete province that they arrested six poachers, among them three from Zimbabwe, who used anti-tank mines in the slaughtering of elephants.

Police spokesperson in Tete, Jaime Bazo, said that among the arrested Zimbabweans one is a sergeant who is allegedly responsible for introducing explosives in the country to detonate elephants, Radio Mozambique reported on Wednesday.

"The suspects were captured on Sunday in possession of ivory that they extracted from slaughtered elephants in the district of Mogoe in Tete province. They were trying to sell them in the city, " Bazo said.

The operation resulted from a report issued by the local people, and the police recovered unspecified quantities of ivory and anti- tank explosives which made police believed the group has been operating for some time now.

This is the second apprehension that the police succeeded in in fighting illegal poaching in Tete province. The last apprehension occurred in June of a group of five poachers including one from Zimbabwe who used poisoning pills to kill animals.