An FAA lieutenant, member of a network of counterfeiters, was arrested yesterday in the city of Lubango, when he tried to introduce into the financial circuit of the province of Huíla, more than one million dollars in counterfeit 100 notes
The FAA officer and his two partners, aged between 33 and 54, were arrested, in the Mintcha neighborhood, by a team of officers from the Criminal Offenses Investigation Section (SIIP), Municipal Command of the National Police in Lubango, in collaboration with the State Information and Security Service (SINSE). These are citizens Xavier Martins, better known as Xavier, aged 54, Nelson de Almeida, aged 33, and army lieutenant Lopes José Livro, aged 52.
The head of the Criminal Illicit Investigation Department of the National Police, superintendent Pedro Cassoma, said that the arrest takes place following an operation, as part of the fight against counterfeiting of foreign currency, which is taking place throughout the province of Huíla. He said that the trio intended to introduce the aforementioned notes into the financial circuit through the various exchange services existing in this part of the country. Pedro Cassoma revealed that they became aware of the existence of the trio of alleged criminals, from the province of Bié, through an anonymous complaint.
The money was transported in a suitcase, by one of the means of transport of one of the agencies that operates on the connection between the two provinces, based in Lubango. On the other hand, the head of the Criminal Offenses Investigation Department said that the arrest of the three national citizens and the seizure of the aforementioned monetary value highlights weaknesses in the surveillance and control process in passenger terminals in terms of land transport throughout the territory. national.In Pedro Cassoma’s opinion, there is an urgent need for authorities, all over the country, to redouble security mechanisms in order to stop the transport of illicit goods.