[imagesource:aljazeera]

A deep-dive investigation by Al Jazeera has revealed some of Southern Africa’s largest gold-smuggling operations, exposing how the gangs are looting the nation, washing dirty cash, and aiding governments in circumventing international sanctions.

The journalists went undercover to infiltrate the large gold-smuggling rings to reveal the massive money laundering scheme, all nicely showcased in a four-part series by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit).

Gold Mafia is based on dozens of undercover operations spanning three continents, and thousands of documents, showing how government officials and businesspeople are profiting off the illegal movement of gold across borders.

Posing as criminals keen to launder some money, Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters gained exclusive access to these smugglers and gangs to figure out the extent of the criminal operation that has left much of Southern Africa in the lurch:

The investigation reveals how billions of dollars’ worth of gold is smuggled every month from Zimbabwe to Dubai, allowing criminals to whitewash dirty money through a web of shell companies, fake invoices and paid-off officials.

The investigation also shows how Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is systematically using gold smugglers to get around the chokehold of Western sanctions imposed on the country. The money laundering and gold-smuggling schemes involve one of Zimbabwe’s most influential diplomats, and go all the way up to the president and his circle.

Well, that’s international sanctions blown out of the water then.

While Zim is a key player in these criminal operations, South Africa also plays a critical role.

Check out the first episode of Gold Mafia, in which undercover reporters posing as gangsters with up to a billion dollars of black money that need to be cleaned, gain access to members of Africa’s Gold Mafia and film closed-door meetings with crime bosses.

Over the course of the coming weeks, the series will reveal more about all the involved characters, how they work and how they are using gold to enrich themselves while impoverishing a whole country.

You can find the other episode on the Al Jazeera YouTube channel as they come out.

[source:aljazeera]