Key facts
- The justice ministry said the operation seized more than 500 trucks and other machines alongside several thousand tonnes of copper and cobalt.
- Ngefa directed the prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation to establish the circumstances, identify possible those responsible and draw judicial consequences.
- The ministry said the investigations could also cover any other offense uncovered during the inquiry.
- The statement did not specify the physical form of the seized materials or their contained metal content.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's justice ministry said on November 2 that Justice Minister Guillaume Ngefa ordered judicial investigations into suspected mining fraud in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces, after an inter-agency operation carried out seizures at several mining sites, including Menda.
The mission was made up of officers from the Congolese national police, the armed forces, military magistrates and experts from the mines ministry, according to the ministry statement. It seized more than 500 trucks and other machines, along with several thousand tonnes of copper and cobalt, the statement said. It did not specify the physical form of the materials or their contained metal content.
Ngefa instructed the prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation to open investigations to establish the circumstances of the alleged offenses, identify possible those responsible and draw the judicial consequences. The ministry said the inquiries could also cover any other offense that emerges.
In the statement, Ngefa said the fight against mining fraud and the illegal exploitation of natural resources was a requirement of sovereignty and of protecting the nation's economic interests.