Angolan police have arrested 16 DR Congo nationals for illegal entry, state media reported.

The Jornal de Angola quoted police spokesman Maurício Morais saying the Congolese were on a lorry enroute to Luanda on Monday.

They were intercepted at the Nkoko connection post in Luvo commune in Zaire Province, located some 481km north of Luanda

The lorry owner, Mr Morais was quoted saying, was also arrested together with the illegal nine women and seven men from the DR Congo.

He explained that he would appear in court and risked $240 fine (Kwanzas 50,000) for each of the illegal Congolese.

The cross-border Luvo market hosts about 1,000 businesspeople from Angola, the DR Congo, the Republic of Congo and Namibia.

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The market is patronised by customers from the four countries.

Illegal migrants were attracted to Angola mostly for diamond exploration and business opportunities.

Angola has extensive diamond reserves (estimated at 180 million carats), principally in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul provinces in the north-eastern.

The two provinces share borders with both DR Congo and Congo-Brazzaville.

The raging conflict in DR Congo has forced thousands of nationals to flee to Angola and other neighbouring countries.