Luanda: A clandestine shipyard for the use of fuel smuggling was dismantled, on Thursday, in the municipality of Cacuaco, in Luanda, by the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC). Speaking to the press, SIC-Geral’s spokesperson, chief superintendent Manuel Halaiwa, said that 216,000 liters of diesel and 3,000 liters of kerosene packed in tanks and drums were seized.

According to Angola Press News Agency, the fuel was mixed and sold illegally, with frequent routes along the country’s eastern and northern borders. Manuel Halaiwa explained that they packaged this product in 30,000 liter tanks, to later remove it with other vehicles to illegal sales points. The fuel was stored in seven tanks of each 30,000 liters and more than three thousand liters of illuminating oil in drums of one thousand liters each.

At this location, fuel is unloaded that should be supplied at fueling stations for users’ vehicles. In addition to diesel, they were also using illuminating oil to mix these two products and then sell it in markets not authorized for that purpose.

Manuel Halaiwa assured that steps are being taken to identify the owners of this shipyard and the origin of the fuel, because many of them have a license to acquire it, but the big problem is the illicit purpose they give it. “At this point, no arrests have yet been made, because when SIC operatives arrived at the scene, the smugglers fled,” he concluded.