DRC-Kasumbalesa: contraband packages containing 11 diamonds and 7 gold bars seized by customs
The customs and security services of the Kasumbalesa border post in Haut-Katanga province seized, on the morning of Tuesday 04 May, several bags containing 11 precious stones (diamonds) and 7 gold bars.
This is what the Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Customs and Excise (DGDA) in Kasumbalesa, Denis Kamato, affirms.
“The border security services got their hands on the suspicious packages. Upon opening these packages, we found 11 pieces of stones declared to be diamonds and 7 pieces of materials declared to be gold bars, ”he said.
According to him, the subject arrested with these precious materials, whose nationality has not been revealed, was about to cross the border, fraudulently with “false certificates of origin”, including a false certificate from the ICGLR He was also not in possession of Kimberly’s certificate for the diamond.
The deputy director of the DGDA notably revealed that the person intercepted for customs fraud would have with him two documents bearing the signature of a director of the Center of Expertise, Assessment and Certification of Precious and Semi-Precious Mineral Substances (CEEC ) and that of a division chief in Mines, who have been assigned to Kinshasa for several years.
Therefore, given the charges against him, the alleged fraudster would respond to complaints of forgery and use of forgery before the judicial authorities.
Recall that the Kasumbalesa border post located between the DRC and the Republic of Zambia is a vital point of passage for basic necessities. To escape the official circuit of the Kasumbalesa border post, several ill-intentioned individuals smuggle goods in and out through the bush. This phenomenon is called “Bilanga”.
