Luanda - The spokesman of the National Police, Mateus Rodrigues, warned on Monday that fuel smuggling is moving from the usual northern region to the east and south of the country.

According to the spokesperson,  a 67 percent increase has been recorded in this practice in eastern Moxico and five percent in Cunene, while Cabinda and Zaire have   seen a 27 percent reduction.

Mateus Rodrigues stressed the need to stop the perpetrators, anticipating changes in their “modus operandi”, adding that main focus is  on the provinces of Cabinda, Zaire, Lunda-Norte, Moxico and Cunene, which border the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia and Zambia.

“We are directing operations towards the new actions that the smugglers are adopting,” he said, adding that the Customs and Border Guard police are attentive and are taking concrete steps to crackdown trafficking, given the huge losses it has caused the state.

The spokesman said that the border guard forces, in coordination with the Customs Tax Police, seized 588,504 liters of smuggled fuel on the borders with Namibia and the DRC, in an operation that resulted in the arrest of 12 alleged perpetrators, including Angolans and DRCcitizens, and the seizure of seven vehicles, 10 motorcycles and two boats.ACC/VC/TED/AMP