According to sources at the
Regional Delegation of Mines, Industries and Technological Development in
Bertoua, about 70% of local mine production there is shipped to Asian countries
without going through local control in Cameroon. Chinese miners who constitute
a majority of exploiters in the region have been accused of engaging in
trafficking of mines products in the region.
They dodge Cameroon gov’t scrutiny
by using gas bottles to load the minerals so that mounted control officers have
no suspicion of trafficking seeing gas bottles.
“These Chinese miners come
around with gas bottles pretending to use them for cooking. But our elements on
the ground in an inspection exercise noticed that some of the gas bottles were
heavier than a normal weight.” A security official who requested anonymity told The
Cameroon Journal.
Cameroonian laborers for the Chinese are
said to be accomplices but are said to be quiet about the illegal transactions
for fear of straining labor relationship with their Chinese employers. Gold
extraction companies and diamonds in the Eastern Region are predominantly
Chinese.
Besides trafficking
of gold, there are also diamonds from operating sites like Boumba-et-Ngoko
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