Event: Colombia

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Officers denied that an illegal, large-scale gold operation was underway within earshot of their posts. But we had seen it with our own eyes.Illegal mining in and near a military base in northwestern Colombia.See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military BaseOfficers denied that an illegal, large-scale gold operation was underway within earshot of their posts. But we had seen it with our own eyes.Illegal mining in and near a military base in northwestern Colombia.Credit...April 26, 2026It was during my third visit to La Mandinga, a gold mine controlled by a Colombian drug cartel, when I understood just how badly the institutions that are supposed prevent illegal mining had failed.The mine abutted a Colombian military base. Weren’t people worried about operating under the noses of the authorities? After all, the mine supported the notorious Clan del Golfo cartel.Hardly. One miner told me and my colleagues that the operation had even expanded beyond the military perimeter line and that workers were mining for gold directly on the base.“Fly a drone and see,” the miner said.So we did. The images were clear: Miners with high-pressure hoses were tearing up a forested area of the base, home to the Rifles Battalion 31, a Colombian military unit. We could see what appeared to be a former fence line — but no sign of a fence separating the base from La Mandinga. After we shared the images with the military and asked for comment, the base’s commander, Col. Daniel Echeverry, denied any gold mining was happening on his base.ImageMiners working inside the perimeter of the base. The military denied this was happening.ImageThe mine’s diesel generators can be…

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Times InsiderThree reporters followed supply chains to reveal that the U.S. Mint buys gold that comes from foreign pawn shops and drug dealers, then claims it is from the United States.The reporter Justin Scheck of The Times at La Mandinga, in Colombia. It’s a government-owned cattle ranch where illegal miners tear up the earth. Credit...Federico Rios for The New York TimesJustin ScheckJustin Scheck traveled with his colleagues Federico Rios and Simón Posada to the heart of Clan del Golfo country, where the most surprising thing they found at a cartel-run gold mine was a breeding operation for top-notch fighting roosters.April 26, 2026Almost three years ago, I became obsessed with gold.I’d been watching the price shoot up for two decades. By December of 2023, gold was an eye-watering $2,000 an ounce, inflated by the anxiety of wealthy investors and governments. They worried about terrorist attacks and wars and financial instability and, lately, disease. Gold, they reasoned, would hold its value if stocks and bonds and dollars lost theirs.At the same time, I’d been reading about illegal gold mining devastating the Sahel across Africa and the Amazon rainforest. It was fueling terrorist attacks and wars and financial instability and lately, researchers were learning, disease.I’ve spent much of my career writing about money and power, and the intersection of great wealth and deep poverty. I’m fascinated by the consequences of actions that wealthy institutions take to become wealthier. And I’m always looking for stories about how the choices made in rich countries affect people in poor ones. So I told my editor, Matt Apuzzo, that during this price run-up, I wanted to report on gold mining.He was skeptical…