Chinese national arrested with bars and $800,000 in cash in Walungu

Three Chinese nationals were arrested with 12 gold bars and $800,000 in cash in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said.

According to Jean Jacques Purusi, governor of South Kivu province, gold and money were hidden under the seats of the car they were traveling in.

He said the arrests were kept secret after another group of Chinese nationals accused of operating an illegal gold mine in the area were recently released.

Eastern DR Congo has rich reserves of gold, diamonds and minerals used to produce batteries for mobile phones and electric vehicles.

This mineral wealth has been plundered by foreign groups since colonial times and is one of the main reasons why the region has been in a state of unrest over the past 30 years.

Militia groups control many mines in eastern DRC and their leaders became rich by selling it to middlemen.

Purusi said some of these precious metals traders have good connections with influential people in the capital Kinshasa, and this is why the mandate to make these latest arrests must be kept quiet. quiet.

He said they acted on a tip-off and the gold and money were only found after a meticulous search of the vehicle in the Walungu area not far from the border with Rwanda.

He did not say exactly how much gold was seized.

Last month, the governor told reporters that he was shocked to hear that 17 Chinese nationals, who were arrested for allegedly operating an illegal gold mine, had been released and allowed to return to China. Quoc.

He said this undermined efforts to clean up the Democratic Republic of Congo’s notoriously gloomy mineral sector.

Reuters news agency quoted him as saying that they owe the government $10 million in taxes and fines.

The Chinese Embassy has not commented on this allegation.

The arrests come as fighting continues to flare in neighboring North Kivu province, where one Rwanda-backed rebel groups have captured large areas of territory.

Last month, The Democratic Republic of Congo said it is suing Apple over the use of “blood minerals”, prompting the tech giant to say it had stopped receiving supplies from both the DRC and neighboring Rwanda.

Rwanda has denied being a hub for illegal mineral exports from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In their lawsuit, lawyers representing the Congolese government alleged that minerals taken from conflict areas were then “laundered through the international supply chain”.

“These activities have fueled a cycle of violence and conflict by funding militia and terrorist groups, while contributing to forced child labor and environmental destruction,” they said. .