Gold Mafia: Gold smuggler sneaks $40 million worth of gold out of Ghana every month

According to an exposé by Al Jazeera's Gold Mafia investigative documentary, a gold trader revealed that he smuggles one ton of gold worth $40 million out of Ghana every month.

The documentary uncovered a network of criminals involved in gold smuggling and money laundering valued at billions of dollars in Southern Africa, with connections stretching across the continent and operating in multiple countries, including Ghana.

Alistair Mathias, referred to as a financial architect who designs money laundering schemes for corrupt politicians, disclosed to undercover reporters posing as Chinese criminals that he has been smuggling gold from Ghana for 13 to 14 years, amounting to $480 million worth of gold annually.

Mathias boasted of exporting from Zambia and South Africa, and claimed to do about $70 to $80 million in gold trading each month.

He further encouraged the undercover reporters to establish a company in Dubai that could assist them in laundering their money.

The documentary is a four-part investigative series on gold smuggling in Africa, and only the first episode has been released.