Police are investigating a suspected mineral smuggling racket at the port of Mombasa after over 10 container loads of copper, which are listed as a strategic mineral were intercepted.
A multi-agency security team on Tuesday led by mining police investigations unit, Kenya Revenue Authority, and the Kenya Ports Authority among other State agencies, opened five containers to collect samples for analysis.
Before the exercise, there was confusion among the team as different units had different instructions regarding the consignment with some calling for the opening of only three containers, raising questions about validity of the exercise.
Coast Regional Mining Officer Paul Karue said there were only three containers being held but after further consultations, it was discovered that more than 10 containers were at the port police station suspected to have copper.
The discrepancy in the exact number of containers to be inspected indicated possibilities of more strategic minerals being smuggled abroad without the knowledge of relevant State agencies.
Mr Karue said the consignment was intercepted about two weeks ago with copper.
He said documents showed the owner had misdeclared the mineral as manganese to evade paying taxes and royalties to the government because copper is categorised as a strategic mineral.
“Export documents indicate each container had about 25 metric tonnes of manganese from Kilifi but this was contrary to what is in the containers after a preliminary test. More samples have been taken and will be undergoing further analysis,” said Mr Karue.
He added, “An investigation has shown that copper was crushed into smaller pellets and mixed with sand to disguise them as manganese. According to mining law, only the National Mining Corporation is allowed to export copper.”
The containers were intercepted at the export stage after all paperwork had been completed waiting to be loaded onto a ship.
