Burkinabe customs have arrested three suspected smugglers trying to export 28.6 kilogrammes of gold worth $2.3 million to neighbouring Togo.
Customs officials said in a statement that the suspects had carefully concealed the yellow metal in their clothes and were headed by bus to Lome, the capital of Togo.
Tipped off by anonymous intelligence, Burkinabe customs officers followed their bus to the border and detained them in the southeastern city of Cinkanse.
The statement added that officers from the customs office in Bittou, northwest of Cinkanse, partnered with police for the record seizure.
Burkina Faso, Africa’s fourth-biggest gold producer, in February suspended exports of the precious metal from artisanal mines.
Mines Minister Yacouba Zabre Gouba said the government was looking to clean up the sector and to better organise the commercialisation of gold and other precious minerals.
Gold is the country’s largest export. The mining sector accounts for 14% of state revenue, according to figures from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
