Dar es Salaam. An illegal mineral trading market has been uncovered in Dar es Salaam, with more than 14 suspects arrested over alleged involvement in mineral smuggling outside Tanzania’s formal trading system.
The suspects are expected to be taken to court after investigations are completed, the minister for Minerals, Anthony Mavunde, said on Sunday, August 9, 2026.
Mr Mavunde said the discovery was part of the government’s intensified efforts to strengthen oversight of the mining sector, curb mineral smuggling and ensure the State collects the revenue due from mineral transactions through officially recognised markets and buying centres.
He said the suspects had turned a rented residential house into an illegal mineral trading centre despite the Government having established mineral markets and buying centres across the country.
“These people, despite the government establishing markets and buying centres across the country, decided to rent a house and turn it into a mineral market, which is against the law,” Mr Mavunde told journalists in Dar es Salaam.
He urged landlords to establish the nature of activities conducted by their tenants to avoid becoming entangled in illegal activities.
“I urge all landlords to ensure they understand the basic activities of their tenants so that they do not find themselves in trouble over such matters,” he said.
Mr Mavunde said the government would conduct special inspections in selected areas of Dar es Salaam and other regions to identify residential properties being used as illegal mineral markets.
“We will conduct special inspections in some areas of Dar es Salaam and other regions to identify these houses being used as mineral markets and which have become a source of mineral smuggling,” he said.
Preliminary information also indicates that a foreign national was linked to the alleged scheme to facilitate the movement of minerals outside the formal system.
The individual has since been detained, according to the minister.
Mr Mavunde directed law enforcement agencies to conduct thorough investigations to identify and arrest all individuals involved in the mineral smuggling chain.
The government has seized 174 grammes of minerals found at the illegal market, along with two Niton DXL 800 XRF analysers, weighing scales, gas cylinders, gold-melting pots, borax, gas pipes and moulds used to shape gold.
Cash amounting to Sh54.705 million has also been seized and is being held by the Government.
The minister said the action demonstrated the Government’s determination to strengthen controls over mineral trading and ensure transactions are conducted through the formal system.
The discovery comes as Tanzania continues to strengthen regulation of the mining sector, particularly mineral trading, in an effort to curb smuggling, improve traceability and maximise government revenue from the country’s mineral resources.
