According to Angop, the discovery of this new method of smuggling, which concerns the involvement of trucks transporting sand from Nzeto, took place last Sunday, the day on which the police in Zaire seized eight vehicles containing 75 thousand liters of fuel destined for the DRC.
Speaking to the press this Monday, the spokesperson for the Zaire Provincial Command of the National Police, Intendant Luís Bernardo, said that truck drivers obtain fuel, supposedly, at Nzeto stations in order to later load the trucks with sand, trying to deceive the authorities who are on duty on the extension of National Road 210.
According to the official, in the action, which also involved bodies from the Ministry of the Interior in the province, the authorities seized eight vehicles: three trucks with sand containing several containers of fuel, a tanker truck with 35 thousand liters of gasoline, a fixed box truck, as well as two light vehicles with more than 40 containers each, writes Angop.
In addition, eight alleged smugglers (both nationals and foreigners from the DRC) were also arrested, whose presentation to the Public Prosecutor's Office will take place in the coming days.
The governor of the province of Zaire, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, who visited the Criminal Offenses Investigation Department this Monday, called for strict action by the authorities against fuel smuggling.
Quoted in a statement from the Provincial Government of Zaire, to which VerAngola had access, the governor said that, "at this moment, the fight is to put an end to fuel smuggling in the province, which is largely promoted by people from other regions", having called on them to "stop this practice that has harmed the economy and the population of Zaire and the country".
According to Angop, a 25-liter drum of gasoline purchased for 7500 kwanzas in the country is sold for 23,000 kwanzas on the black market in neighboring DRC.
