Malian customs has seized 88 gold bars, weighing 143 kg, with an estimated value of over 4 billion CFA francs, PANA learned Tuesday from Customs sources in Bamako.
The gold was found on a vehicle heading to the Mali-Guinea border. Two passengers travelling on the vehicle were arrested by the special brigade of the Malian customs between Siby and Kouremalé, the last Malian locality towards the border.
The frequency of travel of the vehicle on the Bamako-Kouremalé axis, plus the time of its leaving (5 hours GMT/local time) alerted officials, according to the Director of Intelligence and Customs Investigations, Lt.-Col. Ahmadou Sanogo.
The vehicle was tracked down and immobilised by customs officers who discovered gold bars, hidden under the back seats of the pickup’s cabin.
The Bamako-Kourémalé axis is considered a traffic zone of different kinds of goods between the two countries.
