Three Chinese nationals have been arrested with 12 gold bars and $800,000 (£650,000) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said.
Gold and money were hidden under the seats of the car they were traveling in, according to Jean Jacques Purusi, the governor of South Kivu province.
He said the campaign to arrest these men was secret after another group of Chinese people suspected of having an illegal gold mine in the area came out.
Eastern DR Congo is rich in gold, diamonds and minerals used to make batteries for mobile phones and electric vehicles.
This mineral wealth has been looted by foreign groups since colonial times and is one of the reasons why the region has been plagued by instability for the past 30 years.
Militant groups control most of the mines in eastern DR Congo and their leaders get rich by selling them to middlemen.
Purusi said some of these precious metals dealers enjoy good relations with influential people in the capital, Kinshasa, which is why the campaign to make these latest arrests should be quiet.
He said they had been tipped off, gold and money were found after a thorough search of the car in the Walungu area near the Rwandan border.
He did not say how much gold was taken.
Last month, the governor told reporters that he was shocked to learn that 17 Chinese nationals, who had been arrested on suspicion of illegal gold mining, had been released and allowed to return to China.
He said this undermines efforts to clean up DR Congo’s notoriously corrupt mineral sector.
They owe the government $10m in taxes and fines, Reuters reports.
The Chinese embassy has not commented on the allegations.
This arrest comes as the war continues to break out in the neighboring province of North Kivu, where a A rebel group backed by Rwanda has taken over large areas.
Last month, DR Congo said it has sued Apple through the use of “blood minerals”, which made the giant say that it has stopped receiving supplies from DR Congo and neighboring Rwanda.
Rwanda has denied being a conduit for illegal mineral exports to DR Congo.
In their lawsuit, lawyers working for the Congolese government allege that minerals taken from conflict zones are “laundered through importation chains”.
“These operations have fueled violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and contributed to child labor and environmental destruction,” he said.
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