Report: Illegally mined gold is now more important to organized crime in some countries of Latin America than narcotics

Beyond the financial element, gold mining is one of the most destructive industries in the world and illegal mining in particular can be catastrophic for the environment as it ignores legal requirements and restrictions. It displaces communities, contaminates drinking water and destroys pristine environments. It pollutes water and land with mercury and cyanide, endangering the health of people and ecosystems:

- Colombia has the largest population of displaced persons in the world, of which 87% come from areas with a heavy presence of illegal mining.

- Artisanal gold miners dump more than 30 tons of mercury in rivers and lakes in the Amazon region every year, poisoning fish and causing brain damage to humans living as far as 400km downstream.

- There has been massive deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, the “lungs of the planet”.

- The human cost of the expansion of illegal mining is horrifying. Our research uncovered numerous instances of labour trafficking and exploitation, sex trafficking and child labour.

- In Sur de Bolívar, Colombia, 1,500 workers were employed at a mine owned by the wife of an ex-AUC leader and were not able to leave the area without being accompanied by the narco-paramilitary group operating in the area;
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