As reported by the BBC, showed that Zambian authorities including the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), which led the charge, the police, the immigration department, and the anti-terrorism unit, uncovered a large-scale criminal operation, after a multi-agency raid on a Chinese-owned business, located in Roma, an upmarket suburb of the capital, Lusaka.

The director general of the DEC, Nason Banda, noted that the investigations into the case began as a result of the spike in the number of fraud cases being recorded.

The items recovered during the raid included thousands of sim cards, devices that allowed them to mask their locations, two firearms, and about 78 rounds of ammunition.