The Wagner Group has spread like a virus and infected the government, military and economic sectors of the Central African Republic (CAR) to the extent that experts say the country is now a laboratory of Russian influence.

The mercenaries have made capturing the country’s diamond market a priority, stealing and smuggling the precious gems while killing anyone who gets in their way.

One diamond dealer in CAR’s capital, Bangui, said Wagner fighters working jointly with the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) have focused on mining areas, where operations have increased since 2021.

“There was a phase of intimidation, during which they made them [miners and dealers] understand that it was dangerous to work without them: ‘We’ll secure your business if you work with us and sell us your stones’,” the trader told The Africa Report magazine.

“These are mafia methods. They are the only ones present on the ground, they have regional offices, the state’s support and connections in Bangui.”

Diamonds are a major source of Wagner revenue in the CAR. The profits could amount to tens of millions of dollars, according to diamond market experts.

After arriving in late 2017, Wagner set up set up several mining companies in the CAR as a front — Lobaye Invest, Midas Ressources and Diamville. All were granted mining licenses and tax-free export authorizations.

Most of the diamonds are illegally transported through the port of Douala, Cameroon, to the west. Some are smuggled through northern neighbors Chad and Sudan.

Investigative journalist Mathieu Olivier said Wagner joined forces with an existing export system in the CAR. Two Lebanese families, the Nassours and the Ahmads, operate one of the largest diamond-smuggling networks on the continent, Olivier said.

The Wagner Group is entrenched throughout the CAR government and uses its connections to escape scrutiny.

At Wagner’s behest, the government banned photography and filming at M’Poko airport, where previous activities had been recorded. The CAR also banned drones from flying over sensitive areas, limiting the capacity of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission.

“The mercenary group enjoys total impunity in the CAR,” Olivier wrote in a July 7 article for The Africa Report.

The consequences for miners and other civilians in the CAR have been deadly, as the U.N. and human rights groups have accused Wagner of massacres, torture and widespread looting.

In the past two years, Wagner expanded its control of rich mining sites in western and eastern CAR including Abba, Boda, Bria, Ndassima and Sam Ouandja.

In a report published on June 27, investigative and policy organization The Sentry interviewed sources who confirmed that Wagner mercenaries and some FACA units they command have systematically looted and killed artisanal miners and collectors.

“Mining sites are priority targets,” a member of the presidential guard deployed in military operations under Wagner told The Sentry. “We do the cleansing only. No need to talk, kill only.”

Civilians, miners and FACA personnel told The Sentry that Wagner has used terror to suppress locals and enforce their mining monopoly.

“We must surround the village and recover the products [gold and diamonds],” a former rebel-turned militiaman who was sent on a Wagner operation said. “If we find people with a lot of money, we kill [them] and we hide the body in the bush or in the backwaters.”