Luanda – At least 30,000 foreign clandestine diamonds prospectors were expelled from the country in the last four months, in the ambit of an operation carried out by the Angolan National Police.

This was revealed last Monday in Luanda by the general commander of the corporation, Ambrósio de Lemos, during a meeting he held with a delegation for the Review of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, headed by its chairman, the Namibian Energy and Mining minister, Hon Bernard Esau.

According to Ambrósio de Lemos, out of the 30,000 illegal prospectors who were repatriated, 17,000 ones were from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the remainder were from west African countries.

According to him, clandestine diamonds prospecting is mainly carried out in the eastern provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul, therefore his corporation will intensify actions to fight gainst this phenomenon, because it is harmful to the national economy and the minerals exploration companies.