Dear Editor,
The Reuters report on Exxon’s willingness to do business with Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed despite U.S. State Department warnings got little traction on social media (Guyana). It was the strident defence of their innocence that garnered widespread dissemination. In the denial the duo said “A cursory reading of the report reveals that it is a repetition and regurgitation of the now widely accepted discredited Bram Ebus report” (Stabroek News 07.15.23) which prompted a search and read of that report, it is all about gold smuggling and further research led to another publication ‘Gold flows from Venezuela, Supporting due diligence on the production and trade of gold in Venezuela’ a guideline by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development); a comprehensive sixty-eight-page document that leaves no doubt that Venezuelan gold flows through Guyana and that the smugglers are in partnership with narco-traffickers, international money laundering rings and Hezbollah, a notorious middle eastern terrorist organization.
Until mid-2019, a preferred transit hub for illicit gold flows out of Venezuela was the Dutch Caribbean, specifically, the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (Boon and Meléndez, 2019a). This port was linked extensively with Hezbollah in multiple reports; In November 2012, masked gunmen, disguised as policemen, robbed a fishing boat in Curacao and escaped with over US$11.5M in gold smuggled from Guyana. No person or entity claimed the 216 kg gold and Guyanese law enforcement inquiries were rebuffed by Curacao authorities who simply stated that the gold was transshipping legally and that they were aware of it beforehand but declined to name the exporter.
The OCED Report highlights an area that may be easier to garner answers on who the smugglers are; For 2018/19/20, Guyana reported exports to Belgium of 335/1306/248 kg, while Belgium reported no imports from Guyana at all. “In 2018, Guyana reported sending 827 kg to the United States; the United States reported imports of 2862 kg. Guyana’s reported 2019 exports to the UAE totaled 3492 kg, while the UAE reported a significantly higher 9423 kg in imports”. In all, 354,891 ounces of Gold, valued at 636M USD (today’s prices) was smuggled from Guyana in these proven instances, the government loss of tax/royalty revenue is approximately 55M USD, leaving us to speculate on the unknown.
The ever-falling gold declaration amounts demonstrate that smuggling continues unabated. The Government of Guyana must investigate gold smuggling and ensure prosecution of those guilty of robbing the national coffers; surely it cannot be too difficult to examine declarations made in Guyana and compare them to entry documents in the UAE and the U.S.A. The Chairman of the Gold Board during the 2018-20 period was Gabriel Lall, the well-known transparency advocate, I am sure he has information that can be helpful.
Editor, Guyana is a small place, pull on the exposed thread of gold smuggling, tax evasion and ties to narco-trafficking and the entire fabric unravels; it is well known for example, which family owned the boat robbed in Curacao, we know there are very few that can absorb the loss of 216 kg gold to a heist and continue business as usual. We also know that 50M USD per year in unreported income can buy you a lot of politicians and friendships with influencers, we all saw Narcos on Netflix, and can easily recognize the local ‘Escobars’, the problem (for them) is that so can the U.S.
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
