KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban border forces have arrested four Chinese nationals at Kabul International Airport for allegedly trying to smuggle raw gold out of Afghanistan.
According to the Taliban authorities, the individuals were stopped on Friday while carrying 678 grams of raw gold.
Abidullah Farooqi, a spokesperson for the Taliban border forces, confirmed the arrests but provided no further details regarding the suspects or their intended destination.
The Chinese embassy in Kabul has not yet commented on the incident.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of Chinese nationals traveling to Afghanistan, often for tourism or to explore investment opportunities—especially in the country’s vast and largely untapped mining sector.
In recent years, Chinese companies have signed several major agreements with the Taliban authorities to extract minerals such as gold, copper, and lithium
However, concerns over illegal mining and smuggling persist. In January 2023, two Chinese nationals were detained while attempting to smuggle an estimated 1,000 metric tons of lithium through the Torkham border into Pakistan.
More recently, in January 2025, a Chinese national was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the northern province of Takhar. Sources told KabulNow that the man had travelled to the area to finalize a gold deal and had reportedly received around $20,000 before being attacked and robbed.
Afghanistan is believed to hold an estimated $1 trillion in untapped mineral wealth, but decades of conflict and a lack of regulatory oversight have made it a hotspot for illegal mining and smuggling. Border controls and airport enforcement remain limited, contributing to the ongoing illicit trade.
