In addition to the diamonds, the authorities also seized 3,350 dollars, EUR 30, two scales, three magnifiers, four shovels to collect diamonds, among others, indicated the police in a statement, cited by Angop.
According to information released by the Ministry of the Interior, the French citizen, with a regular migratory situation, was arrested because the clandestine purchase of diamonds is a crime of illegal possession of strategic minerals.
The diamonds were handed over to the Operation Transparency Outpost Commission in Malange for analysis. The suspect has already been arrested and will be presented to the Public Prosecutor's Office in the coming days.
The arrest took place as part of Operation Transparency, during routine investigative oversight by the security forces.
Between January and May this year alone the authorities have seized 125 diamonds, which are still awaiting evaluation, 1700 dollars and 55 thousand kwanzas.
Last year, the authorities confiscated 6579 diamonds (still to be evaluated), 19 cars and 275 thousand dollars.
In March last year, Operation Transparency - launched in September 2018 to combat illegal immigration and the exploitation and smuggling of diamonds - was extended to the maritime coast.
As part of this operation, the authorities arrested 147,000 citizens with irregular migration status, closed 96 churches and 107 commercial establishments. This operation yielded the state 16,543,420 kwanzas.
