The Shadow of El Dorado
Colombia is home to a billion-dollar black market gold sector that funds armed groups and organized crime, fuels corruption, and has a devastating environmental impact. It is, in short, an epicenter of the global trade in blood gold.
But what if our understanding of blood gold is too limited, too simplistic?
Reporters James Bargent and Mat Charles set out to the Andean mining town of Segovia to follow Colombia’s blood gold to its source. What they found there led them into a labyrinth of power, corruption, and lies in a world where it is not only warlords and gangsters, but also presidents and billionaires who stop at nothing in their quest to control the world’s most cursed mineral. And where the line between legal and illegal begins to break down.
This seven-part investigative journalism podcast journeys deep into the shadowlands of the global economy, where savage capitalism runs wild as the poor kill each other and the powerful get rich.
Listen on:
The Shadow of El Dorado is not just a podcast, we also have some incredible additional content. Explore each episode to see videos 
, photos 
, graphics 
interviews and to follow the paper trail of key documents 
we uncovered during the investigation.
EP01
Blood Gold
Our search for Colombia’s blood gold takes us to Segovia and the illegal mines at the very beginning of the global supply chain. But what we find there is a strange mirror world, where conventional narratives fall apart, and the names and labels we try to apply do not make sense.
EP02
The Frontino Men
Our blood gold investigation takes an unexpected turn as we dive into the story of Frontino Gold Mines, a decades-old mystery that could hold the key to understanding how Segovia became the mafia town we see today.
EP03
Them
The Frontino story leads us right back to them – the paramilitary groups that have lurked in the shadows of Segovia for generations – and our definition of blood gold begins to expand as the line between legal and illegal fades away.
EP04
Meet the New Boss
Global capitalism marches into town, pledging to save Segovia from itself. But what – or who – lies behind the promises of a new era of stability and prosperity for all?
EP05
Venom
Segovia goes into lockdown when a new gold war begins as Colombia’s broader conflict enters a new chapter. But is this an existential battle between legal and illegal, or is that just wartime propaganda?
EP06
The Strike
Tensions between informal miners and the Canadian multinational that is the legal owner of the town’s gold have been building ever since we first arrived in Segovia. And now that conflict is reaching breaking point.
EP07
War Stories
We head back to Segovia after several years away. Has the town been able to escape the blood gold cycle?
Extra Episode
He Met a Pilgrim Shadow
In March 2025, the leader of Segovia’s informal miners, Jaime Gallego, disappeared. A week later, his body was found dumped on the roadside. There was no doubt about who killed him – it was them – the criminalized paramilitaries that run Segovia’s gold trade. But why?
Special episode in Spanish
La Sombra de El Dorado
This special Spanish language episode was adapted from our series, the Shadow of El Dorado.
Credits
Written and reported by: James Bargent
Produced by: Mathew Charles
Executive producers: Steven Dudley and Elisa Roldán
Script editing by: Tatiana Lozano, Steven Dudley, and Elisa Roldán
Sound design and editing by: Jairo Pineda and Valentina Fonseca
Graphic design by: Isabella Soto, Juan José Restrepo and Maria Isabel Gaviria
Fact checking by: Alejandra Rodriguez and Beatriz Vicent Fernandez
Additional research by: Anastasia Austin and Christopher Newton
Trailer
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