The Comoros has returned to Madagascar 28 gold bars seized from smugglers at the main airport in 2021, both governments said Friday, concluding a saga that soured relations between the neighbours.
The gold, weighing 49 kilogrammes (108 pounds), was discovered in the luggage of three people about to catch a flight from the Comoros to Dubai.
The find uncovered a smuggling route by boat from Madagascar to the Comoros, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) away.
Two of the men, from Madagascar, were swiftly repatriated to face trial. Five Comorans -- including a former airport director and a customs officer -- were arrested and sentenced to jail in 2022.
However the Comoros held onto the gold, leading Madagascar to suspend sea and air links with its Indian Ocean neighbour.
A statement issued by the governments of both countries said the gold had now been returned.
"Legal proceedings and diplomatic exchanges initiated between the two countries have enabled the competent... authorities, to proceed today with the repatriation of these bars to Madagascar," it said.
That testified to the "good neighbourly relations and cooperation" between the two nations and "their common desire to combat the various illegal trafficking between the two brotherly countries," the statement added.