The Zimbabwean government says it has ordered an investigation into reports of gold smuggling and money laundering.

Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa says the authorities take allegations raised in a TV documentary series by the broadcaster Al-Jazeera very seriously.

She said that anyone involved in corruption and fraud would face the full wrath of the law.

The TV programmes use undercover reporters to reveal what they say are criminal networks linked to a subsidiary of Zimbabwe's Central Bank, smuggling gold to Dubai.

Gold has become the country's biggest export.