Hawks arrest seven illegal miners for theft, money laundering

A multidisciplinary team led by the Hawks descended on an alleged illicit mining operation in Welkom on Tuesday.

The seven suspects aged were apprehended on allegations of illegal mining, money laundering, theft and corruption.

According to Hawks spokesperson Christopher Singo, during the course of the driven investigation, the alleged targets were identified as the syndicates members involved in illicit mining activities and money laundering.

Their arrests were effected during the termination of a project driven investigation lead by the Hawks investigation team.

It is alleged that these syndicate members are owners of various businesses that are operating legally and generate some income.

“Those companies are allegedly used to launder large amounts of money through their illegal mining business activities,” revealed Singo.

“They allegedly use runners to illegally recruit foreign nationals to work as zama-zamas.

“They then obtain the gold bearing material and sell it to illegal gold buyers,” he added.

Several items were seized during the arrest which include 23 vehicles to an estimated value of more than R5 million, 02 firearms, 02 gas bottles, 01 cutting torch set with pipes, documents and undisclosed amount of money.

The suspects are expected to appear in court soon.