NewsNational News

Actions

UN experts: Gold from Congo going to armed groups, criminals

Posted at 3:44 AM, Jun 20, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-20 03:44:27-04

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. experts say armed groups, criminal networks and some law enforcement agents in Congo are reaping vast sums of money from illegally exploiting gold and other natural resources and smuggling them to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates.

The experts said in a report to the U.N. Security Council obtained Friday by AP that “the volumes of smuggled gold were significantly higher than the volumes of legally traded gold.”

The experts said they traced Congolese gold to regional refineries and other international destinations using ways to obscure ownership and supply chain accountability.