The international magazine “The Cradle” confirmed that the United Arab Emirates has become the primary destination for Sudanese gold through smuggling networks directly linked to the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”. These networks, it stated, are reshaping the country’s civil war and fuelling a vast shadow economy.
According to the report, these networks were not merely mafia-style routes for siphoning wealth, but rather reliable financial arteries that Hemedti used to fund a brutal war that triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The investigation placed the UAE at the centre of responsibility—not merely as a transit hub, but as an enabling environment where illicit money flows freely and smuggled gold reaches Dubai with little scrutiny from Sudanese or international oversight.
Amid the institutional collapse triggered by war, this flow deprived the Sudanese state of its most vital source of hard currency and deepened the chaos tearing the country apart.
Smuggling Networks: An Alternative Economy Outside State Control
According to “The Cradle”, gold smuggling was not a series of scattered individual operations but a structured system run through shell companies linked to RSF leaders and protected by military and political cover. These companies created effective supply chains stretching from the mines of Darfur and the Nuba Mountains to El Fasher, then to Port Sudan or border regions, before reaching Dubai’s gold-buying hubs.
While not entirely new, these operations became far more aggressive after the outbreak of war. Gold turned into the primary fuel of the war machine. At a time when Sudan was suffering under economic siege and devastating destruction of infrastructure, millions of dollars were flowing into RSF accounts and from there to weapons suppliers, arms markets, and foreign contractors.
The UAE’s Role: A Financial Hub with Double Standards
The investigation held the UAE directly responsible for enabling the plundering of Sudan’s resources—not only because Dubai is the final destination for the gold but because it offers a financial ecosystem that allows its entry without serious questioning of origin. Dubai’s long-standing economic model relies on gold trading under a regulatory system that does not sufficiently verify the provenance of precious metals, making it a global hub for “transit gold” from conflict zones and countries plagued by corruption.
Despite repeated international pressure on the UAE to reform its gold sector, the magazine notes that the country continued to accept Sudanese gold without implementing serious measures to block imports from conflict zones. Worse still, some companies linked to top RSF figures even obtained official licences to trade in Dubai at the same time Hemedti’s forces were accused of committing war crimes in Darfur and Khartoum.
This stark contradiction between the UAE’s rhetoric on “transparency” and “international cooperation against money laundering” and its real-world gold-trade practices illustrates the double standards Abu Dhabi applies in multiple regional files, including Sudan.
Gold for Weapons: The Funding Loop Prolonging the War
The investigation revealed that the flow of gold to the UAE was not merely an economic phenomenon but a central factor prolonging the conflict. The vast revenues enabled Hemedti to buy drones, armoured vehicles, ammunition, and advanced communication equipment. Gold became one of the key resources allowing the RSF to continue fighting despite blockades, sanctions, and the Sudanese army’s attempts to sever its supply lines.
According to the report, the UAE either knew—or should have known—that the gold entering its markets came from conflict zones and that its proceeds were being actively used to arm a militia accused of atrocities. This makes Abu Dhabi a significant, albeit indirect, party contributing to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan.
State Erosion: Systematic Pillage Hidden Behind Trade
The most consequential outcome of these networks is the stripping of the Sudanese state of one of its central sovereign resources. As the legitimate government struggled to pay salaries or import wheat and fuel, billions of dollars were being siphoned from Sudanese mines into the coffers of RSF-linked networks through Dubai.
The investigation emphasised that this form of smuggling destroyed Sudan’s economy and reshaped its internal power dynamics. Smuggled gold became the foundation of a parallel authority stronger than the state itself in financing capacity, extending the war and undermining any chance for institutional recovery.
“The Cradle” ultimately assigns the UAE a share of the moral and political responsibility for Sudan’s tragedy. Instead of acting as a partner in stabilisation and reconstruction, the UAE—through weak oversight and permissive gold-trade mechanisms—became a bridge enabling the funding of conflict.
As the war continues and international pressure mounts, the UAE may soon face difficult questions about its real role in the economy of blood-stained gold coming from a collapsing Sudan—a country that did not lose gold alone, but lost years of development and its chance at survival, while the gold continued its safe journey toward Dubai, laden with the blood of civilians and the suffering of a nation torn apart by regional ambitions.
