Brazilian authorities say criminal networks involved in illegal mining are adapting their logistics to move gold extracted in the Amazon across international borders, increasingly using the northern state of Roraima as a transit corridor to neighbor countries.
For years, one of the most visible fronts of illegal mining in Brazil has been the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, which spans parts of the states of Roraima and Amazonas. Illegal miners extracted gold there and moved it to other Brazilian states, where it could enter the formal market or be exported using fraudulent documentation.
“We have identified a change in the gold route. Now, gold mined in other areas of the country is being sent to Roraima, and the state is functioning as a transit point to other countries,” Federal Police (PF) Delegate Caio Luchini told BBC News Brasil.
According to authorities, criminal groups increasingly attempt to move the metal across Brazil’s northern borders into neighboring countries such as Venezuela and Guyana, where it can be integrated into international markets.
Authorities believe tighter enforcement against illegal mining and stricter oversight of the gold trade have forced criminal groups to modify their operations. In recent years Brazil has intensified investigations, raids on mining camps, and financial controls designed to prevent illegally mined gold from entering legal supply chains. As a result, investigators say these pressures are pushing traffickers to move the metal abroad before it can be detected.
Data from Brazil’s Federal Highway Police (PRF) suggests a growing flow of illicit gold through the state. Between 2024 and 2025, the volume of gold seized on highways in Roraima increased by 368 percent, according to Brazilian media reports citing PRF figures.
“We made several seizures of gold coming from Amazonas and Rondônia, states where there is a strong presence of illegal mining, in addition to Pará,” Marcus Vinícius de Almeida, national director of operations for the PRF, told BBC News Brasil.
Investigators say the state’s geography makes it attractive for traffickers. Roraima borders Venezuela and Guyana and has long served as a logistical hub for mining activity in the region, including during periods when illegal mining expanded rapidly inside the Yanomami territory.
The ‘DNA of gold’
Brazilian authorities are also deploying new forensic tools to track the origin of illegally mined gold. The Federal Police’s “Ouro Alvo” initiative uses scientific analysis to identify the unique morphological and chemical signatures of gold samples.
The program analyzes factors such as mineralogy, morphology, and isotopic composition, allowing investigators to link seized gold to specific mining regions and environmental damage in the Amazon.
The technology has already been used in criminal cases and is now being expanded through international cooperation with other countries in the Amazon basin. Investigators aim to build a regional database that could help authorities determine the origin of seized gold across borders.
Profiting from illegal mining
The expansion of criminal factions in the region has accelerated in recent years. According to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety (FBSP), the presence of criminal groups in the Amazon grew 32 percent in one year. Of the 772 municipalities analyzed by the organization at the end of 2025, criminal factions were active in 344, compared with 260 municipalities in 2024. The FBSP estimates that at least 17 criminal factions operate in the Amazon region.
Security analysts say criminal factions are drawn to the activity because of high global gold prices, weak traceability in the gold trade, and the region’s remote geography, which allows criminal networks to operate far from major law enforcement centers.
Brazil’s two largest criminal organizations — the Red Command (CV) and the First Capital Command (PCC) — have expanded their influence into parts of the Amazon, where they exploit illegal mining as both a source of revenue and a way to launder money from other criminal activities.
Investigations by Brazilian authorities and security experts indicate that these groups rarely control mining operations directly. Instead, they tend to dominate the logistics surrounding illegal mining. In many areas, factions charge miners fees to operate, control river routes used to transport fuel and equipment to mining camps, and organize the movement of gold out of remote areas. Criminal groups also provide armed protection to mining sites and regulate access to landing strips and river corridors used for smuggling.
For groups such as the PCC, illegal mining offers additional financial opportunities. Authorities say criminal networks may invest in mining equipment, transport operations, and gold trading intermediaries, allowing them to integrate illegally mined gold into legal markets and use it to launder profits from drug trafficking.
The Amazon’s vast river systems also make illegal mining attractive to organizations such as the CV, which has historically controlled trafficking corridors linking Brazil to Peru and Colombia. Security analysts say the same logistical networks used to move cocaine through the region are increasingly being used to transport gold and mining supplies.
A report by Agência Brasil found that the CV has circulated a “newsletter” through WhatsApp groups targeting people involved in illegal mining in Alta Floresta, in the Amazon region of Mato Grosso. Since mid-October 2025, the report said, miners operating rafts and large extraction equipment have been required to register with the group and pay monthly fees.
Other criminal groups have also been linked to illegal mining activity. In northern Brazil, the Família do Norte (FDN) has long maintained influence over trafficking routes along the Amazon River and border regions with Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. Although the group has historically focused on drug trafficking, authorities say its networks have also intersected with mining operations and smuggling routes.
In addition to these large factions, regional criminal groups operate across the Amazon, often collaborating or competing for control of mining territories, transportation routes, and border crossings. Authorities say foreign criminal organizations — including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and dissident factions of Colombia’s former guerrilla groups — have also been detected in parts of the region.
Security researchers increasingly describe the convergence of illegal mining and drug trafficking as a form of “narcogarimpo” in which mining operations are financed or protected by drug-trafficking organizations. The model allows criminal groups to diversify their income streams while using gold — a commodity that is easier to move and integrate into legal markets — to conceal illicit profits.
Regional cooperation against illegal mining
Governments across northern South America have also increased cooperation to confront the transnational networks behind illegal gold mining.
In January 2026, authorities from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname carried out what Interpol described as the first coordinated cross-border operation targeting illegal mining in the Amazon region. The initiative, known as Operation Guyana Shield, involved more than 24,500 checks on vehicles and individuals and resulted in 198 arrests.
During the operation, police seized raw gold, mercury used in mining processes, firearms, drugs, and large amounts of cash. Investigators also uncovered cases of suspected human trafficking and child labor linked to mining operations.
“The rise in international gold prices in recent years has led to the growth of illegal mining, making this activity the fastest-growing source of income for organized crime groups, including in Latin America,” Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said in a statement.
Authorities say such operations illustrate the growing recognition that illegal gold mining has become a transnational security challenge that cannot be addressed by any single country acting alone.
As enforcement intensifies, investigators expect criminal groups to continue adapting their methods — shifting routes, exploiting remote borders, and seeking new ways to integrate illegally mined gold into global markets.
