Rabat - Mauritanian authorities have dismantled an international ring involved in illegal prospecting for gold in Zouerat, a town in northern Mauritania. The ring includes members of the Polisario Front.
Rabat – Mauritanian authorities have dismantled an international ring involved in illegal prospecting for gold in Zouerat, a town in northern Mauritania. The ring includes members of the Polisario Front.
The ring is made up of international gold prospectors, including several members of the separatist front, who have collected a large fortune through the illegal trafficking of gold.
Elements of the Mauritanian army recently dismantled the ring and transferred members of the network to the Zouerat, a town 750 kilometers away from Nouakchott, to police headquarters for investigations. There, law enforcement aims to identify additional members involved in illegal gold trafficking.
Members of the Polisario Front have been linked to several criminal acts of late, including drug trafficking.
Recently, Morocco’s Counterterrorism Bureau (BCIJ) has expressed its concern over the situation on Sahel-Saharan states, where terrorists are conducting illegal crimes to fund their terror activities.
Head of BCIJ Abdelhak Khiame also said that the Polisario members in the region ought to be considered a terrorist group, due to their involvement in terrorist cells, including Al Qaeda and Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Speaking about the security threats in the Sahel region, the BCIJ chief said that illegal activity often serves as a means of escaping from poverty for many separatists living in Tindouf in southern Algeria.
