Johannesburg-based Business Day reports that local police have closed in on criminal syndicates suspected of stealing and trafficking in platinum group metals. Authorities arrested 40 people in the Rustenburg and Marikana areas earlier in November.
Mineworkers, businessmen and two policemen are among those charged with the theft and illicit trading of precious metals, including platinum, palladium and vanadium.
For two years, the organized crime division of the police, in an undercover operation, has been investigating syndicates in Europe and the United States. Police say they have recovered R8.8 million in platinum during that time.
The swoop on suspected traffickers in the North West Province resulted in the recovery of 3,691 kg of platinum, 43 carats of diamonds and a small quantity of gold.
Be the first to comment on "PGM traffickers cuffed"