In the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, three Chinese nationals were caught in possession of $800,000 in cash and gold bars.
The BBC claims that the three were apprehended with a sum of cash concealed behind the seat of a car they were riding in, together with twelve gold bars.
The suspects’ detention was verified by South Kivu province’s governor, Jacques Purusi, who said the operation was kept under wraps following the recent release of another group of Chinese nationals who were charged with operating an illicit gold mine in the region.
Mr. Purusi clarified that the recent arrests had to remain under wraps since some of the dealers in the “previous metals” had been enjoying positive relationships with the powerful individuals in Kinshasa, the capital.
Mr. Purusi stated that they had been acting on a tip-off, but he did not specify the exact amount of gold that had been confiscated thus far.
He claims that only after a thorough check of the car in the Walungu neighborhood close to Rwanda’s border were the gold bars and cash discovered.
Mr. Purusi told reporters last year that he was taken aback to learn that 17 Chinese nationals who had been detained on suspicion of operating an illicit gold mine had been released and let to return to China.
He claimed that the move jeopardized the attempts to purify the infamously corrupt mineral industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Reuters cited Mr. Purusi as saying, “They owed $10 million in taxes and fines to the government.”
