Police in Kabwe district in Central Province, have impounded 39 by 210 litre drums of oil suspected to have been illegally obtained by a local businessman.

Central Province Police Commissioner Charity Munganga says the contraband which was found following a tip from the general public was found hidden in a house in Nakoli compound.

Ms. Munganga said the businessmen who claimed to have bought it from a truck driver who was traveling to South Africa, wanted to sell it as cooking oil.

She told journalists that the contraband will be held by the state until the content reported to cooking oil is ascertained and the source is verified.

ZANIS reports that Ms. Munganga observed that Central Province has seen an increase in cases of products being bought in transit, a situation which she said raises concern.

“In some cases, the truck drivers hired to transport goods sell them without consent from the owners,” she said.

Ms. Munganga said the business man Cephas Tembo will be charged for being in possession of goods suspected to have been illegally obtained.

And Central Province Permanent Secretary Milner Mwanakampwe cautioned businessmen against buying and selling of products that are not labelled.

Mr. Mwanakampwe noted that the sale of unlabeled products brings a lot of questions regarding the quality and could pose a health risk to consumers.

He said that the source and the date of expiry are not known.

“Businessmen could be selling counterfeit or substandard goods to the public which could pose a danger especially that cooking oil is a consumable,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary observed that unlabeled goods should be ascertained by the Zambia Bureau of Standards.

Meanwhile, Tembo who said he could no longer reach the transporter who sold him the oil said he was linked to the trucker by an agent.

“I did not know that it was an offence to buy or sell products whose origins are not known. I just wanted to sell the cooking oil to make money.

Tembo said he bought the oil at K4, 000 per drum.

Currently, cooking oil is being sold at K250 per 5 liters.