DR Congo: Justice minister orders investigations into alleged mining fraud in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga

DR Congo Justice Minister Guillaume Ngefa ordered judicial investigations after more than 500 trucks and other pieces of equipment, along with thousands of tonnes of copper and cobalt, were seized at mining sites in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga. The decision followed a report by a joint mission involving the Congolese National Police, the armed forces, military magistrates and experts from the Mines Ministry. Investigators are to establish how the minerals were extracted, whether operators had the required permits, and whether there was complicity in transport and sales, amid allegations of mining fraud, illegal extraction and smuggling. Foreign nationals and Congolese citizens had also been detained during operations in Lualaba, where cash in US dollars and Congolese francs was seized; its total and origin remain unknown.