Lunda-Norte: At least 169 diamond stones of different carats were seized on Sunday in the municipalities of X¡-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 Ivorian citizens, aged 41 and 48.
According to Angola Press News Agency, the micro-operation took place in the neighborhood of Candombe (X¡-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.
