A man was on Tuesday arrested while driving a Land Cruiser with 65 containers of smuggled fuel from Angola through an ungazetted point.

According to Ohangwena police spokesperson Kaume Itumba, the suspect was arrested along the border at Onamunama area.

The suspect is charged with contravention of the Petroleum Products and Energy Act. 

It is against the law to trade in petroleum products without a licence.

“The 65 containers were recovered as well as the motor vehicle used in the commission of the offence was impounded,” said
Itumba.

Ohangwena motorists often travel to nearby Angolan service stations and pay around N$3.80 per litre. 

Namibians pay over N$15 per litre at service stations.

Usually, suspects who smuggle fuel from Angola allegedly sell the 25-litre containers to taxi drivers at nearby towns for between N$280 and N$330 or five litres for between N$40 and N$60.

According to the police, most of the suspects allegedly buy the fuel from a village in the Ohangwena region. 

The village is close to the Namibia-Angola border.

“Some suspects mostly go to Oshikango in the Ohangwena region, nearby the Angolan border inside Namibia at a village called Okatale to buy plastic petrol containers,” said the police.

In recent years, service station owners in Ohangwena complained that those who sell fuel illegally do not pay tax, which is very unfair because they are not contributing anything to the development of this country.

However, residents along the border have asked why they are not allowed to buy vastly cheaper fuel on the Angolan side, and they have urged government to find a lasting solution.

- vkaapanda@nepc.com.na