APNU Member of Parliament Sharma Solomon has called on the government to investigate the financiers behind illegal mining and publish details of its enforcement efforts, following an INTERPOL warning that criminal syndicates are moving cocaine profits into illegal gold mining.
In a statement, Solomon, APNU’s representative on natural resources, said Guyana could not continue to treat illegal mining solely as an environmental offence. Seizing dredges or gold shipments, he argued, was insufficient without investigations into those financing the operations and handling their proceeds.
“Are we policing the visible miner while the people financing the operation remain untouched?” he asked.
His comments followed remarks by INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza at the opening of the 27th INTERPOL Americas Regional Conference in Georgetown on September 23. As reported by Kiskadee Watch, Urquiza said criminal syndicates were increasingly using illegal gold mining to move and conceal proceeds from the cocaine trade. He stressed the need to trace both illicit goods and the money behind them.
Solomon said the warning shifted attention from dredges operating in rivers to the people funding them. He contended that illegal mining was part of a wider problem involving narcotics, fuel and smuggling, with organised crime penetrating a legitimate national resource sector.
The authorities should establish who finances illegal operations, who purchases the gold and who moves the proceeds, he said. Investigations should also identify the businesses, bank accounts and intermediaries involved.
He questioned what information was being shared among the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Financial Intelligence Unit, Customs, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the police and international law enforcement agencies.
Solomon also called for the publication of figures on operations dismantled, seizures, prosecutions and financial investigations. Without these, he said, the public could not assess whether enforcement was effective.
“Without those figures, the country is left with announcements while the public remains unable to measure the effectiveness of enforcement,” he stated.
He argued that the management of Guyana’s natural resources was a national security concern as well as an economic one, and said policy must protect the environment and legitimate miners while preventing organised crime from benefiting from the country’s wealth.
Urquiza had pointed to Operation Guyana Shield as an example of the value of tracing criminal proceeds. Conducted in December 2025 by authorities in Guyana, Brazil, French Guiana and Suriname, the operation resulted in 198 arrests across the four jurisdictions, INTERPOL reported in January.
Among those detained were three men in Guyana suspected of gold smuggling and money laundering who were found carrying unprocessed gold and US$590,000 in cash. INTERPOL said the men were alleged to belong to an organised crime group. Mercury concealed in solar panels was also seized in Guyana and Suriname. Locally, the Ministry of Natural Resources has announced several recent enforcement actions.
Kiskadee Watch reported on September 29 that the GGMC had shut down a shop at Tamakay Landing in the Mazaruni Mining District after finding that it was trading gold without the required licences and approvals. According to the ministry, gold, equipment and cash were seized during the September 28 inspection, and two people were detained by police as investigations continued.
Earlier in September, the ministry reported the detention of five non-nationals following the dismantling of an illegal mining operation in the Potaro district. An expanded sweep subsequently resulted in the detention of four more non-nationals and the discovery of excavators and trucks concealed in the surrounding jungle. Dredges, generators, pumps, metal detectors and other mining equipment were also seized, Kiskadee Watch reported.
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