CIO Report Exposes Diamond Looting Cartels
A seven-member team from the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) tasked with investigating the looting of diamonds at Chiadzwa diamond fields in Manicaland unearthed syndicates connected to military and political elites.
Following a week-long probe which commenced on the 9th of September, the team discovered massive looting and smuggling of diamonds, including from claims owned by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) and Anjin.
An unnamed security official who spoke to The Newshawks said the team compiled a report which they submitted to CIO director-general Isaac Moyo. The official is quoted as having said:
The report mentioned three cartels, in particular, one linked to the security sector, the other one to a politically connected tycoon who has been on an asset-acquiring spree in the past few years and the other to a deputy minister.
The report gave headaches to the CIO top brass, given that the kingpins of the cartels are connected to the top most powerful people in government and the security sector.
He watered down the report because he did not want to step on certain toes.
Tightening security became the priority and not nailing the syndicates.
Reports of massive looting of diamonds have characterised operations at Chiadzwa since 2008.
In 2016, the companies that were licensed to operate in Chiadzwa were kicked out resulting in the formation of the ZCDC in 2017, which was the only firm extracting diamonds in Chiadzwa for two years.
However, in early 2020, Anjin Investments (Pvt) Ltd, a joint venture between Chinese company Anhui Foreign Economic Construction (Group) Co. Ltd and a Zimbabwean entity, Matt Bronze Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd, owned by the military, was allowed back in Chiadzwa.
