Africa-Press – Angola. The camouflage of 25 and 200 liter plastic containers inside trucks loaded with sand has become one of the methods that fuel smugglers in the province of Zaire are using to transport gasoline and diesel to the DRC.
The new “modus operandi” of smuggling petroleum derivatives, involving dump trucks transporting sand from the municipality of Nzeto, 230 kilometers from the city of Mbanza Kongo, were discovered, on Sunday, by the National Police in the province of Zaire, with seizure of eight vehicles loaded with 75 thousand liters of fuel that were destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to the spokesperson for the Zaire Provincial Command of the National Police, intendant Luís Bernardo, who spoke to the press this Monday, after the presentation of the product and the seized means, truck drivers purchase the fuel, presumably, at stations supplies from the town of Nzeto and then filled the trucks with sand, in an attempt to deceive the police forces deployed along National Road 210.
He explained that during the operation, which involved the involvement of different bodies from the Ministry of the Interior in the region, eight vehicles were seized, including three dump trucks loaded with sand with several drums of fuel inside, a tanker truck carrying 35 thousand liters of gasoline, two light vehicles loaded with more than 40 drums each and a flatbed truck.
With the resources, the National Police detained eight alleged smugglers, including national and foreign citizens of the DRC, who will be presented to the Public Ministry in the coming days.
Press found that a 25-liter container of gasoline purchased at a price of 7,500 kwanzas in the national territory is sold on the black market in the DRC for a value of 23 thousand kwanzas.
Governor calls for close combat
The governor of Zaire, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, urged the National Police to redouble its vigilance, in order to combat fuel smuggling into the DRC.
According to the governor, combating cross-border crimes, particularly fuel smuggling, requires everyone’s involvement in order to mitigate this phenomenon that has negative repercussions on the national economy.
“We have to work together, complying with the law to the letter. There is no point in presenting a positive result today and tomorrow falling back into mediocrity”, she emphasized.
According to Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, one of the consequences of smuggling is the shortage of fuel at the city’s gas stations and the consequent increase in motorcycle taxi rides.
The governor was speaking to journalists after discovering, on Monday morning, at the Criminal Investigation Department (DIIP) unit, the fuel and trucks seized by the National Police in the region.
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