COVER N. 783 - MAURITIUS

Postmark: MPPC Tribeca 2 Mauritius 20.10.2026

Posted on the 20th October;  Received on the 28th October 2026

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Another rare visitor to this blog: Mauritius. Thank you so much Tasneem.

Another rare visitor to this blog: Mauritius. Thank you so much Tasneem.

Knowing my soft spot for all things that fly, Tasneem used a nice minisheet issued on 16SEP2024, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Mauritius Police Helicopter Squadron. The sheet comprises  3 stamps, illustrated with photographs of the three types of helicopter serving in the unit, namely the Eurocopter AS555 Fennec (3 rupee stamp); the HAL- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Dhruv (25 rupeee) and the venerable HAL Chetak - the French Alouette III made in India, under licence - (32 rupee).

The three helicopters are seen on the sheet photoshop layered into an aerial image of  Le Morne Brabant peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mauritius Police Helicopter Squadron, formed in 1974, is the national law enforcement agency of Mauritius, tasked with:

- Search & Rescue and Casualty Evacuation;

- Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Missions;
- Operation to combat gandja (cannabis) cultivation;
- Traffic patrol and Security Escort of convoys;
- Conveyance of Very Very Important Persons (VVIPs) / Very Important Persons (VIP) and officials of Ministries / other agencies as approved by the Prime Minister’s Office;
- Formation of specialist Drivers (Helidrop);
- Photo and filming missions.

- Postage was completed with a 33 Rupee stamp issued on 09OCT2027, part of a 4 stamp set (3; 4; 23; 33 Rupees) issued as a souvenir sheet, entitled Mauritius Sea Shells.

The 33 rupee stamp on the cover features the Trapezium Horse Conch (Pleuroploca trapezium), a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fasciolariida,  recollected as food and whose shell can be used as a natural trumpet, once the tip of the spire is cut off.

Postmark from the Post Office at the Tribeca Mall, in Mauritius