16 August 2023; MEMO: Authorities in Zambia have seized a plane which arrived from Cairo carrying $5.7 million in cash, gold bars, pistols and 126 rounds of ammunition.
Director General of the Drug Enforcement Committee Nasun Banda said at a press conference in the capital Lusaka that authorities detained ten people, including six Egyptians. Also arrested are a Spaniard, a Latvian, a Dutch and a Zambian.
“Acting on this information, we together with officers from various law enforcement agencies conducted an operation which resulted in the seizure of $5.7 million, five pistols, seven magazines [for ammunition loading], 126 rounds of ammunition, 602 pieces of gold weighing 127.2 kilogrammes [280 pounds] and gold measuring equipment,” Banda said.
Zambia’s Minister for Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe said that the gold bars are in fact copper, zinc, tin and nickel in a gold coating.
The cash has now been placed in the Bank of Zambia, Banda added.
The plane, which took off from Cairo, landed at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka on Monday evening.
The incident comes after news circulated that officials in Egypt had been smuggling their money out of the country, fearing the collapse of the regime and the economy.
Egypt and Zambia have made significant moves in recent years to boost bilateral relations, including signing a memorandum of understanding in June this year to strengthen military cooperation and training.
The annual volume of trade between the two countries stands at around $328.9 million.
