At least 29 Kenyan nationals have been arrested in India after authorities intercepted a large consignment of smuggled gold valued at more than Sh500 million at Mumbai’s main international airport.
According to Indian customs officials, the seized gold weighed approximately 29 kilograms and was discovered during routine screening operations at the airport, one of the busiest entry points into the country.
Quoting Kenya’s Capital FM, the arrests have once again drawn attention to East Africa’s growing role in the global illicit gold trade, with Kenya increasingly cited as a key transit route for smuggled precious minerals heading to major markets such as India and the United Arab Emirates.
Investigators believe much of the gold moving through the region originates from conflict-affected zones, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan. From there, it is allegedly trafficked across porous borders into Kenya before being exported illegally to international buyers.
As Capital FM reports, authorities across the region have raised alarm over the expansion of sophisticated smuggling networks that take advantage of weak regulatory enforcement, corruption, and instability in mineral-rich areas.
Kenya has also faced a parallel surge in gold-related fraud, commonly known as “fake gold scams,” where criminal syndicates forge mining permits, export documents, and customs paperwork to deceive foreign investors. These schemes have led to millions of dollars in losses and damaged the country’s reputation in the global minerals trade.
The latest arrests in India highlight increasing international scrutiny on cross-border mineral flows, as governments tighten enforcement and cooperation to combat smuggling, improve transparency, and protect legitimate trade in the sector.
