Mbanza Kongo - Forty-five tons of basic foodstuff were seized on Saturday by the National Police in the border municipality of Luvo, northern Zaire Province, for attempted tax evasion.
Rice, corn flour, vegetable oil, pasta, dried fish and table salt were being transported by three-wheeled motorbikes, on clandestine routes, bound for the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they were to be sold.
Speaking to the press, the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Unit of the Zaire Border Police, Superintendent Edson Ferreira, explained that the seizure of the food items was only possible due to the recent installation of the new monitoring system of the border perimeter between Angola and the DRC.
He said that this was the first seizure of quantities of basic food products destined for the DRC that the Border Police had carried out in the municipality of Luvo since the inauguration of the new border monitoring system on 12 March this year.
In the micro-operation, 11 individuals, alleged owners of the goods, were arrested for attempting to illegally cross the border with undeclared goods.
The seized goods will be handed over to the General Tax Administration (AGT) in the municipality of Luvo for legal proceedings.
The Province of Zaire shares 310 km of land and river border at Zaire River with the Central Congo region (DRC).
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