Illegal Mining

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NEWS

5 Reasons For Record Deforestation in Colombia

COCA / 14 JUL 2021

Recently published data has shown that deforestation in Colombia soared last year, as a number of illegal activities drove forest loss.

Venezuela's Indigenous Warao Press-Ganged into Guyana's Illegal Gold Mines

GUYANA / 13 JUL 2021

Migrants from Venezuela's Warao Indigenous community who have been forced to flee to Guyana find themselves forcibly recruited to work as illegal miners in their new country.

US-Curaçao Gold Smuggling Highlights Strategic Caribbean Passage

CARIBBEAN / 29 JUN 2021

The owner of an armored transport company has been charged for his part in a transnational dirty gold network that moved the metal to the United States via Caribbean islands.

Impunity Driving Uptick in Violence Against Yanomami in Brazil

BRAZIL / 19 MAY 2021

Sporadic clashes between illegal miners and Indigenous communities are not uncommon in northern Brazil but recent shootouts drive a new point home: the miners are convinced they’ll get away with…

The Unlikely Resistance of a Lone Mining Gang in Venezuela

ILLEGAL MINING / 17 MAY 2021

The escalating violence between security forces and a gang that formerly enjoyed official protection in Venezuela's foremost mining region shows how the breakdown of criminal and political alliances can lead…

Dirty Business - The Smuggling Pipeline Carrying Mercury Across the Amazon

BOLIVIA / 13 MAY 2021

Smuggling networks are feeding illegal mining operations across the Amazon Basin with mercury, despite global efforts to clamp down on the use of the substance.

Digging Into Dirty Gold Across the Americas

COLOMBIA / 7 APR 2021

Illegal gold mining is devastating South America's jungles. The trade has been destroying large swaths of forest and flooding rivers with toxic mercury at an alarming rate.

Brazil's Mining Regulator No Match For Illegal Gold Rush

BRAZIL / 12 MAR 2021

The Brazilian agency that inspects mining sites and seizes illegally mined ore is vastly understaffed, a consequence of a government that has given free rein to the mining sector.

A Toxic Trade: Illegal Mining in Colombia's Pacific Region

COLOMBIA / 11 MAR 2021

Forests in Colombia are being ravaged by illegal mining, a criminal economy that has come to rival the drug trade for profits.

Organized Crime and the Environment in Latin America: A Fatal Encounter

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 3 MAR 2021

Latin America’s forests are being cut down at an accelerating rate. Asian markets are driving a trade in wildlife products, while wildcat miners decimate Amazon jungle from Peru to Guyana…

Human Trafficking Accompanies Illegal Mining in Venezuela’s Orinoco

HUMAN TRAFFICKING / 9 FEB 2021

A new report on human trafficking in Venezuela's Bolívar state shows that forced labor camps and sex trafficking rings are rampant in the region's illegal mines.

Decades of Deforestation, Illegal Mining and Impunity in Nicaragua

ELITES AND CRIME / 27 JAN 2021

Nicaragua's Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, on the southern border with Costa Rica, is under assault.

GameChangers 2020: How Black Markets Became the New Normal

CONTRABAND / 23 DEC 2020

In a region where 50 percent of the population already makes its living in the informal market, it was perhaps of little surprise that black markets exploded in 2020 amidst…

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ABOUT US

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Greater Focus on US-Mexico Border

20 JUL 2021

InSight Crime has decided to turn many of its investigative resources towards understanding and chronicling the criminal dynamics along the US-Mexico border.

THE ORGANIZATION

Key Arrests and Police Budget Increases Due to InSight Crime Investigations

8 JUL 2021

With Memo Fantasma’s arrest, InSight Crime has proven that our investigations can and will uncover major criminal threats in the Americas.

THE ORGANIZATION

Organized Crime’s Influence on Gender-Based Violence

30 JUN 2021

InSight Crime investigator Laura N. Ávila spoke on organized crime and gender-based violence at the launch of a research project by the United Nations Development Programme.