Security officials in the United Arab Emirates have foiled an attempt to smuggle 100 tons of gold, worth $5 billion, into the country.

The gold was to be smuggled through oil tankers that were transporting it from an “unnamed African country” to a neighboring country, where members of a money-laundering gang would then arrange to bring it into UAE.

The National reports:

An attempt to smuggle 100 tonnes of gold was “extraordinary”, said Tim Parkman, managing director of Lessons Learned, which provides training in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and workplace ethics. “I’m just shocked anything of that amount would be held in one place,” he said.

(Mustafa) Al Ani, director of defence and security studies at the Gulf Research Centre in Geneva, speculated the gold might have come from wealthy sources in Egypt, Libya, Syria or Tunisia, seeking to move their assets to safety.

Read the full story here.