Typologies and Red Flags Associated to Money Laundering from Illegal Mining

By The Organization of American States, Department against Transnational Organized Crime,

The typologies and cases assessed for this study reveal numerous key findings about the characteristics of the illegal gold trade that have enabled its dramatic growth in recent years. That growth is driven by the relatively low risk that illicit gold mining poses, the high profitability of the trade, and a proliferation of methodologies to take advantage of the multiple gaps in local, national, and international enforcement regimes. …We hope the examination of the main typologies and red flags in the illegal gold trade will be a useful first step toward coordinated regional efforts to combat the gold trade’s criminal aspects. It is important to note that illegal gold mining operations do not operate in isolation, but are almost always at the center of multiple criminal networks and activities. The illicit gold supply chain, due to its characteristics as described in the typologies, often overlaps or operates parallel structures to cocaine trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises. …. Because the alluvial mining of illicit gold requires clear-cutting large tracts of jungle or forest, it entails enormous environmental damage; hence, environmental crimes are an integral part of the process.

Washington, DC: Organization of American States, Department against Transnational Organized Crime, 2022. 76p.