04:29 AM EST, 12/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Apple ( AAPL ) subsidiaries in France and Belgium have been slapped with criminal complaints filed by the Democratic Republic of Congo over allegations that the company is using minerals plundered by armed groups in its supply chain, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing lawyers for the Congolese government.

Congo, a source of the tin, tantalum and tungsten used in computers and electronic devices, is rife with violent armed militias that run some artisanal mines in the country, Reuters reported.

Congo alleges that Apple ( AAPL ) uses minerals smuggled from its borders into its supply chains, making the company allegedly complicit in the armed groups' crimes, according to the report.

"It is clear that the Apple ( AAPL ) group, Apple France and Apple Retail France know very well that their minerals supply chain relies on systemic wrongdoing," Reuters quoted the Congolese complaint as saying.

Apple ( AAPL ) did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' request for comment.

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