P1 - The Wagner Group in Sudan | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

P1 - The Wagner Group in Sudan | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Part 1: “Who are these guys and what are they doing here?”

In late February 2022, Airport workers in Khartoum International Airport in Sudan are stood glued to television screens, watching Russian tanks entering the outskirts of Kyiv in Ukraine. But just outside on the runway, a Russian cargo plane laden with cookies was about to take off, heading to Latakia on the coast of Syria.

Earlier that day, officials had inspected the aircraft, suspicious of the cargo manifest. It turned out they were right to be suspicious, because hidden under the cookies was gold. A ton of gold. But the military arrived and the plane was waived through.

Gold is Sudan’s largest export, although 80% of that is thought to be smuggled out of the country. The industry has a number of players, including the Rapid Support Forces who are currently locked in battle with its rival the Sudanese Armed Forces . But there is also another active group that works alongside both these two forces and has its eyes firmly on Sudanese gold - the Wagner Group.

Speaker(s):

Kholood Khair - the Founder and Director of Confluence Advisory, Khartoum.

Ken Opala, the Field Network Coordinator for East and Southern Africa, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.

Mohanad Hashim, freelance Sudanese journalist, currently working at the BBC.

Justin Lynch, researcher, and author of Sudan’s Unfinished Democracy.

Additional Reading:

(GI Paper)The grey zone: Russia's military, mercenary and criminal engagement in Africa

(GI Paper) Going for Gold: Russia, sanctions and illicit gold trade

'If you desert, we'll execute you': 'Putin's chef' recruits convicts for war Yevgeny Prigozhin: UK reviews rules after Wagner head sued journalist

UK exposes sick Russian troll factory plaguing social media with Kremlin propaganda

Fake news and public executions: Documents show a Russian company’s plan for quelling protests in Sudan

Wagner chief admits to founding Russian troll farm sanctioned for meddling in US elections

Ukraine capital Kyiv endures Russian onslaught - BBC News

Russia is plundering gold in Sudan to boost Putin’s war effort in Ukraine

Sudan TV broadcast taken off air after loud bangs during military clashes

CNN - How Russia could be stealing over $13 billion of gold a year from Sudan

Sudan fighting: RSF and...

Jaksot(49)

"Don't text or call me" - Part 2: Clan del Golfo: The Fall of Otoniel | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

"Don't text or call me" - Part 2: Clan del Golfo: The Fall of Otoniel | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

At the end of part 1, Otoniel we left him in sole charge of Clan del Golfo, the biggest organized crime group in Colombia.In part 2 "Don't text or call me", we look through the eyes of a man who goes ...

28 Maalis 202247min

"He's an animal" - Part 1: Clan del Golfo: The Fall of Otoniel | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

"He's an animal" - Part 1: Clan del Golfo: The Fall of Otoniel | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

In late 2021, the leader of Clan del Golfo (The Urabeños) Dairo Antonio Úsuga, aka "Otoniel", was captured by the Colombian police. President Iván Duque said that the arrest was only matched by the fa...

21 Helmi 202234min

Killing in Silence: The Global Assassination Monitor | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Killing in Silence: The Global Assassination Monitor | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

An assassination is like a stone being dropped into the middle of a still pond – the splash is the violent act itself – the ripples are the repercussions, that spread far and wide – fear, intimidation...

10 Tammi 202233min

Plastics for Profit | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Plastics for Profit | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

In this episode we look at the criminal involvement in the plastic waste industry.The lucrative global market in plastic waste is expected to be reach over $50 billion US Dollars by 2022. From Mafia g...

7 Joulu 202156min

Crossing the Line: India and Myanmar | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Crossing the Line: India and Myanmar | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

In this episode we tell the story of a region, the "Seven Sisters", otherwise known as the Indian Northeast and one town in particular, Moreh, and the relationship with neighbouring Myanmar.Moreh sits...

27 Syys 20211h 1min

Fishy Business | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Fishy Business | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

This is a story of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, complex corporate structures, human trafficking, arms smuggling, corruption and the capture of state institutions.In this collabor...

6 Syys 202150min

Guinea-Bissau Part 2: Pau de Sangue (Blood Timber) | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Guinea-Bissau Part 2: Pau de Sangue (Blood Timber) | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

In the wake of the 2012 'Cocaine Coup' in Guinea-Bissau the illegal logging trade exploded, largely driven by huge demand for rosewood logs in China - a species protected under international law.By 20...

24 Kesä 202125min

Cabo Delgado: Africa’s Forgotten Insurgency | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Cabo Delgado: Africa’s Forgotten Insurgency | Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

On March 24th 2021, Islamist insurgents carried out an attack on the coastal town of Palma in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. The days of fighting, looting, massacres, private milita...

28 Huhti 202149min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-podme-livebox
viisupodi
rss-asiastudio
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
otetaan-yhdet
rikosmyytit
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
linda-maria
the-ulkopolitist
rss-mina-ukkola
rss-merja-mahkan-rahat
popcorn-with-esko
rss-pykalien-takaa
rss-polikulaari-humanisti-vastaa-ja-muut-ts-podcastit
rss-50100-podcast