Why illegal gold mining is overtaking cocaine as the drug of choice for traffickers in Latin America

In July, Peru’s then foreign minister Elmer Schialer said the illegal gold economy in Peru was seven times bigger than the cocaine trade.

The Trump administration’s drone strikes against boats allegedly bringing illicit drugs to the US come amid an explosion in the amount of cocaine being produced in Colombia and Peru.

But there is a new – and lethal – factor that is turbo-charging production – especially in Peru: the relationship between coca cultivation and illicit gold mining.

Narco-mineria

The nexus of coca cultivation and illicit gold mining is offering a swifter route to riches for criminal enterprises across the Amazon region – from Peru and Ecuador to Colombia and Venezuela. It’s known as narco-mineria, according to Collins.

“Criminal organizations have found that illegal gold mining is a safer and more lucrative asset in which they can invest money from drug trafficking, and, in turn, launder the assets more easily,” according to Collyns, author of the forthcoming “Blood Gold: The Shocking True Story of the Amazon Gold Rush.”

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