Africa-Press – Angola. The Customs Tax Police Command, in Luanda, presented, yesterday, 12 nationals arrested, in the early hours of Wednesday, for illegally transshipping fuel, in the area of Ilha do Cabo.
The spokesman for the National Police, Deputy Commissioner Mateus Rodrigues, explained that the seized fuel was being transferred from a 30,000-liter tanker truck to two speedboats, containing 14 drums of 1,000 liters each.
Mateus Rodrigues stressed that, in order for the transhipment process to run more safely and quickly, the accused built anarchically a pier bridge, which allowed them to take fuel from the truck to the speedboats.
In addition to the arrest of the men and the seizure of the barges, the Police captured three vehicles, including a tanker, a Hyundai I10 and a Mitsubishi Pagero.
The National Police spokesperson stressed that the 12 citizens were caught in the act of committing a crime and, in the act of arrest, the accused tried to bribe the police officers, with a value of 200,000 kwanzas, which was also seized.
Deputy Commissioner Mateus Rodrigues also underlined that the fuel seized on Cabo Island was intended for commercialization on the high seas in industrial and semi-industrial fishing vessels.
The spokesperson said that fuel smuggling is one of the major concerns of the Angolan State, therefore, the Police have reinforced actions to stop the practice, mainly in the provinces that border the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mateus Rodrigues assured that the 12 individuals detained and the assets seized in the operation will be presented to the Public Ministry, for due legal treatment.
Asked about the possible involvement of National Police personnel, the sub-commissioner said that an operation was underway, in which individuals with some responsibility in the corporation were detained.
“We must make it clear that this involvement of police personnel is not an institutional action, but a particular one, hence we punish severely whenever we detect them”, concluded sub-commissioner Mateus Rodrigues.
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