Trading Cocaine For Gold

How Smuggled Gold Beat Cocaine For Colombian Cartels​

Mar 7, 2026 #goldmining #colombia #illegalmining
Amid global crackdowns on cocaine trafficking, Colombia’s cartels and criminal groups have shifted to a new top moneymaker: gold. But as the government tackles illegal mining, artisanal workers whose families have relied on the gold for generations are caught in the crossfire.

26:37

00:00 - Introduction
01:09 - Marmato's Informal Mines
05:47 - Volunteer Rescue Operations
09:40 - The Rise of Criminal Groups
11:25 - How Informal Miners Get Criminalized
12:17 - The History of Colombian Gold
14:02 - How Gold Is Processed
15:05 - How Dirty Gold Enters the US
17:31 - Tackling Illegal Mining
20:08 - What Multinational Companies Do
24:12 - How Colombian Gold Gets Used
26:21 - Credits

Why Cartels Are Trading Cocaine for Gold

Jun 19, 2026
Ecuador’s most powerful drug gangs are pivoting to a trade that is easier and more lucrative than cocaine: illegal gold mining. Driven by soaring global prices, this multi-billion dollar illicit industry now accounts for nearly 80% of the country’s gold output, fueling a wave of unprecedented violence across the nation. While the military struggles to shut down operations and deep-seated corruption compromises state regulators, local communities are left entirely unprotected. Forced to take up arms to defend their own rivers and land from toxic devastation, indigenous villagers face a brutal choice between resistance and survival.

13:04

Apparently, you CAN eat gold....