What happens when four countries finally team up to tackle one of the Amazon’s dirtiest secrets? Almost 200 people found out this week.
Police across Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname carried out their first coordinated cross-border crackdown on illegal gold mining — and the net was wide. Very wide.
Authorities ran more than 24,000 checks in remote border zones, seizing cash, raw gold, mercury, guns, drugs and mining gear along the way.
In Guyana alone, officers arrested three men suspected of gold smuggling and money laundering.
After finding unprocessed gold and nearly $600,000 in cash.
Investigators say the suspects may be tied to organised crime — and even linked to a major gold exporter.
Why does this matter? Because illegal gold mining isn’t just about profit.
It’s ripping through the Amazon, poisoning rivers with mercury and devastating Indigenous lands.
Illegal Gold Mining Surges
As gold prices soar, criminal networks are pushing deeper into the forest, turning the metal into a cross-border crime jackpot.
Interpol chief Valdecy Urquiza didn’t mince words.
“Illegal gold mining is growing rapidly and causing serious harm to the environment and local communities.”
Officers even uncovered mercury hidden inside solar panels and counterfeit goods.
Undocumented migrants — including children who may have been exploited.
The operation, dubbed “Guyana Shield,” shows what cooperation can do in a region where borders are porous and forests vast.
The bigger question now? Whether this united front can last longer than the gold rush itself.
