That’s how the gold trafficking rings turned the Algerian Sahara into an “Eldorado”

Patrol units of the National gendarmerie and the National People’s Army and those of Customs Services bolstered surveillance in mid-September on five key sites in the south and the far south of the country as part of the relentless fight against cross-border smuggling and organized crime.

These sites are particularly located in the areas of Meniaâ, Tamanrasset, Djanet, and Adrar, which have been transformed by the Mafia and gang rings specialized in gold and precious metals’ extraction and smuggling, into a virtual “Eldorado”.

These nefarious gangs have reportedly been involved in these areas in the systematic plundering of national resources notably gold ore and precious metals like platinum and chromium, especially with the use of modern electronic machines smuggled from the Dubai and Qatar markets.

In a bid to check this smuggling spree, patrol units of the national Gendarmerie, who were always on the look-out after receiving reliable information and clues, went into action and managed to arrest in several combing operations within the past 6 months of the current year 863 African gold traffickers and their Algerian accomplices operating in the southern regions of Algeria

Eighty vehicles as well as large quantities of weapons including Kalashnikov assault rifles and ammunition and special metal-detection devices in addition to cellular phones were seized during these anti-smuggling operations.