tantalite thefts, page-2

Good find ourmark

I understand that 7 to 11 shipping containers were found to contain bags of cement on arrival in Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) which handles shipments from Central African including DRC, Rwanda and Burundi.

An organised criminal gang appears to be behind a series of recent thefts of bagged and tagged material originating in Rwanda and DRC's Katanga province from containers at the port - with stolen material apparently destined for China.

Four containers have been reportedly tracked to a warehouse in Dar Es Salaam and police have made a number of arrests. However whether effective action will be taken remains to be seen as evidence suggests that the criminal syndicate is operating with help from local officials - the tracked-down cargo had been relabelled in Dar Es Salaam with Tanzanian certificates of origin.

Not a large amount of material however it’s good that the matter has been exposed as it will give the added strength to the NGOs and others working to kill this ilegal trade.