Gold smugglers both inside and out of Guyana are on the radar according to Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman who yesterday revealed that a meeting on the issue will be convened today.
“There are some known persons and others local and international who are on that radar and as I said we are moving to take actions”, he told reporters at a post cabinet press briefing.
Previously it had been reported that a gold smuggling ring which has managed to slip billions of dollars’ worth of the precious metal out of Guyana mainly across the borders to Brazil and the US, has grabbed the attention of officials in Guyana and the US.
Trotman stated that “There is gold smuggling going on in Guyana, we are aware of it and it is a problem that is being addressed”.
He said that today’s meeting will involve some agencies and persons concerned with the sector while adding that the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) is currently conducting investigations into gold smuggling.
The investigation being done by SOCU specifically focuses on tracing shipments of gold and their declaration in the US.
“We are working with foreign governments and we are in the process of tightening so that we can recover as much as possible. Bringing something like smuggling to zero is not always possible but it is the duty of government to bring it to a minimum”, he said, adding that government’s actions thus far have led to discoveries which means that some things are working.
“So the things that are working we are going to deepen and strengthen and those that are not working we will get to but it is not in our interest to say what we intend to do exactly”, he said.
SOCU head, Assistant Superintendent Sydney James had recently told Stabroek News that there is evidence of a large-scale network involving several locally-registered mining companies in the smuggling of gold through the country’s major ports. “Based on information gathered we suspect a number of major networks/individuals are engaged in this practice… there are hundreds of people… some are well-established businesses licensed to export gold,” he said.
Stabroek News was told that among those that are being linked to the probe are well-established businesses and persons in the mining sector.
When news of the collaboration between Georgetown and Washington broke, Trotman told Stabroek News that after the APNU+AFC government took office in May it found evidence of rampant gold smuggling, particularly to Brazil,
Suriname and the United States and has made tackling it a priority. “There was gold smuggling when we came into office and we found it was quite extensive. We decided to make it priority,” he said, while adding that the issue is of serious concern as every bit of ore or gold that leaves Guyana undeclared means less revenue for the country.
It has since been learnt that as part of the ongoing probe, US visas issued to several suspected smugglers have been revoked.
Head of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) Patrick Harding has since distanced small miners from the gold smuggling saying that “big players” have hijacked the mining industry and are the ones behind the large-scale smuggling of gold.
“(Small) miners don’t smuggle gold,” Harding told Stabroek News while noting that the GGDMA is concerned at the recent reports of large-scale smuggling of the precious metal.
