Dundo - At least 169 diamond stones of different carats were seized on Sunday in the municipalities of Xá-Muteba and Chitato, Lunda-Norte province, during a micro-operation carried out by the Criminal Investigation Service to combat the mining of the strategic mineral.
The information was disclosed Monday by the SIC spokesman Graciano Lumanhe, adding that the diamonds were in the possession of an Angolan and t Ivory Coast, citizens aged 41 and 48.
According to the SIC spokesman, the micro-operation took place in the neighborhood of Candombe (Xá-Muteba) and in the urban center of the municipality of Chitato, where some diamond weighing equipment and unspecified amounts of money were also seized.
The police officer clarified that those involved were illegally buying and selling the diamonds, which will be handed over to the public diamond company ENDIAMA E.P., as trustee.
Graciano Lumanhe added that during the same operation, a 49-year-old foreigner from Gambia was arrested in the municipality of Cambulo for the manufacture, trafficking, possession and alteration of arms and ammunition.
HD/DAN/AMP
