Acacia official said to have been held by Tanzanian authorities

A senior executive at Acacia Mining Plc was picked up by Tanzanian secret service agents on July 12 at the airport in the southwestern town of Mbeya, interrogated and returned to his house in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam a day later, people familiar with what happened said. Acacia is in the midst of a dispute with Tanzanian President John Magufuli, who has accused the company of failing to pay billions of dollars of taxes. In March, the state banned exports of unprocessed gold and copper, a move Acacia later said has been costing it $1 million a day in lost revenue. Acacia said in a statement on Friday that “employees in Tanzania have been and continue to be interviewed by government agencies.” The company declined to comment further.