Africa-Press – Angola. Twenty-one thousand and 25 liters of gasoline were seized Wednesday, by the National Police in the village of Ndembo, municipality of Mbanza Kongo, province of Zaire, for attempted smuggling into the DRC.
The product was packed in 841 drums of 25 liters each and was found in an uninhabited residence, in the aforementioned village, which is approximately 17 km from the Luvo border post with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the National Police, the owner of the fuel, still unknown, purchased the said fuel at one of the pumps in the city of Mbanza Kongo.
The source states that the scheme consisted of concentrating huge quantities of gasoline in the village of Ndembo, to be transported at night to the DRC, using clandestine routes to deceive local border authorities.
He estimated the value of each drum that would result from the sale of this product in the DRC at more than 21 thousand kwanzas, where prices are very attractive, if the smuggling were to take place.
The seized gasoline will be delivered in the coming days to the Public Ministry, which will define the fate of this product, explained the source.
Fuel smuggling in the province of Zaire is a recurring phenomenon that raises much concern among the local population, who systematically report shortages of this product at pumps in the city of Mbanza Kongo.
Taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers are the most affected by fuel smuggling, and with the lack of this product they turn to the informal market, where a liter of gasoline costs up to 750 kwanzas.
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