Tanzania probes Sh8 billion gold seized in India

The Tanzania Minerals Commission (TMC) is investigating reports that the authorities in India have seized 53 kilogrammes of gold worth $3.47 million (Sh8 billion) that reportedly originated in Tanzania.

The investigation is aimed at enabling TMC to get enough information with regard to the real source of the gold.

Reports said customs officials in India have seized a total of 61 kilogrammes of gold worth $3.942 million at Mumbai International Airport on a single day.

They seized 53 kilogrammes of gold from four passengers arriving from Tanzania, while another eight kilogrammes were recovered from three travellers from Dubai last Friday.

The four Indian nationals who reportedly arrived from Tanzania were found carrying the smuggled gold in the form of one-kilogramme bars, which they concealed in specially designed waist belts with multiple pockets.

The belts were allegedly handed over to the passengers by a Sudanese national at Doha Airport in Qatar during transit.

During interrogation in India, the four passengers are said to confessed that they were given the gold in transit at Doha Airport by an unknown Sudanese national, who had not travelled with them on the flight.

But TMC said available information indicated that it could be a smuggling ring at work.

“They say they received the gold in Doha, Qatar, from someone. The question here is that how could someone receive goods from somebody they don’t know?” queried the TMC director for mineral audit and trade, Mr Venance Kasiki.

He said it was still too early to say whether or not the minerals were from Tanzania.

“We will have to conduct a thorough investigation to establish the source of the minerals. It could be another form of mineral smuggling using Tanzania’s name,” he said.

According to Tanzania’s Mineral Act, Cap 123 and its regulations, mineral smuggling is an offense and the person smuggling minerals will, upon being found guilty, be liable of paying an amount that is three times of the value of the seized consignment.

The vessel used in smuggling the minerals will also be nationalized while the seized minerals will also be nationalised.

Under the law, TMC is to work with other government bodies like Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services, the police force, the immigration department as well as the defense and security committees are regional and district levels which are chaired by regional commissioners and district commissioners, respectively.

The last time minerals were seized in Tanzania was in August this year when 930.88 grams of gold, along with Sh97.02 million and an electronic weighing scale for minerals were seized in Shinyanga.

Similarly, a Chinese national Jun fung was arrested in 2018 as he was about to smuggle tanzanite and ruby to Qatar from the Kilimanjaro International Airport.