The expansion of criminal networks originating in Venezuela, especially in their consolidation of illegal gold mining, constitutes one of the most serious contemporary threats to Brazil’s sovereignty, public security, and socio-environmental integrity.
Introduction
Since the mid-2010s, the Brazil-Venezuela border has witnessed the firm establishment of Venezuelan Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) as key players in illegal gold mining within the Brazilian Amazon. Groups such as the Tren de Aragua and networks linked to dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) have fundamentally transformed artisanal mining into an industrialized, highly lucrative, and profoundly destructive industry.
The central thesis of this article is clear: The negative impacts generated by these TCOs — including irreversible mercury contamination, accelerated deforestation, the slow genocide of indigenous peoples, the strengthening of transnational organized crime, and the erosion of state capacity in the northern region — require an integrated strategic response. This response must combine qualified repression, effective international cooperation, and sustainable development policies for vulnerable populations. The absence of such an effort could irreversibly compromise Brazil’s territorial and environmental integrity.
Evolution of the phenomenon: From artisanal activity to transnational criminal industry
Illegal mining in the Brazilian Amazon is not a new issue, but its scale and fundamental nature have changed radically since 2016. Between 2016 and 2020, the affected area within the Yanomami Indigenous Territory increased by 3,350 percent, directly impacting 273 communities and 56 percent of the local indigenous population (Hutukara Yanomami Association; Socio-Environmental Institute, 2021).
The core transformation lies in the entry of structured Venezuelan criminal organizations. Originating in the context of Venezuela’s severe economic and institutional crisis — whose GDP contracted by about 80 percent between 2013 and 2021 (World Bank, 2022) — these networks now control entire chains of gold extraction, processing, transportation, and money laundering. A 2023 Atlantic Council report ranks Tren de Aragua as one of the most expansive TCOs in Latin America, operating simultaneously in extortion, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and illegal mining.
In Brazil, the presence of these organizations has been confirmed by Federal Police operations. In December 2024, Operation Áurea dismantled a money laundering scheme worth some $ 805.5 million, involving Venezuelan immigrants and trafficking routes extending to Guyana and Suriname (Federal Police, 2024). MapBiomas 2024 recorded a 97 percent increase in the area mined in the Legal Amazon between 2010 and 2023, with 92 percent concentrated in the Amazon region.
Operational sophistication includes the use of backhoes, river dredges, clandestine airstrips, and strategic alliances with Brazilian criminal factions, specifically the First Capital Command and Red Command. According to the 2024 Brazilian Forum on Public Security, illegal gold has become the preferred currency in Colombian cocaine trafficking, creating a fully integrated criminal ecosystem.
Brazil’s strategic response: Advances and limitations
The main state response included the declaration of a public health emergency in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory (Decree No. 11,372/2023) and the launch of the Environmental Law and Order Guarantee Operation (GLO Ambiental). By November 2025, joint action by the Armed Forces, Federal Police, Ibama, and Funai had resulted in a 93 percent reduction in the active mining area (from 4,570 hectares to 313 hectares) and the destruction of more than 800 heavy machines (Ministry of Defense, 2025).
On the legal front, two structural measures have been key: a) the decision of the Federal Supreme Court (ADI 5,937/2020), which removed the presumption of good faith in the purchase of gold, holding distributors and jewelers civilly and criminally liable; b) the mandatory use of electronic invoices for gold (RFB Normative Instruction No. 2,176/2024), which reduced the declared volume of illegal mining by 84 percent between January and July 2024 (Federal Revenue Service, 2024).
In the legislative sphere, Law No. 14,823/2024 specifically defined “transnational criminal factions” and increased penalties for crimes committed on indigenous lands or involving collective violence.
These measures are necessary because illegal mining financed by Venezuelan TCOs already controls, directly or indirectly, 45 percent of the municipalities in the Legal Amazon (Brazilian Forum on Public Security, 2025). However, the persistence of alternative trafficking routes via Venezuela and Guyana demonstrates that exclusively national actions are insufficient.
Case Study: Yanomami Indigenous Territory (1993-2025)
The Yanomami Indigenous Territory, covering 9.6 million hectares between Roraima and Amazonas, is the most dramatic example of the TCOs’ impacts. The area mined has multiplied more than 20,000 times in 37 years: from 15 hectares in 1985 to 3,272 hectares in 2021 (RAISG, 2022; Hutukara/ISA, 2024).
Mercury contamination has reached critical levels. A study by Fiocruz (2023) found that 92 percent of the Yanomami examined in communities near mining sites had concentrations above the safe limit (10 µg/g of hair), with some cases reaching 89 µg/g. Malaria, introduced or reintroduced by miners, registered 28,402 cases in 2021 — an incidence rate of 925 per 1,000 inhabitants (SESAI, 2022).
Violence is another major vector. Between 2019 and 2023, there were 78 homicides directly related to disputes over control of mining sites in the Brazilian portion, in addition to countless cases of rape and slave-like labor of Yanomami women and adolescents (Rede Pró-Yanomami, 2024).
Experts are unanimous. Philip Fearnside, senior researcher at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), states that “the current model of mining, financed by transnational criminal organizations, represents the greatest threat to the physical and cultural survival of the Yanomami since contact with the SPI’s Attraction Front in the 1970s” (Fearnside, 2024). Beto Ricardo, coordinator of the Socio-Environmental Institute, classifies the phenomenon as a “socio-environmental epidemic,” which directly affects 17 indigenous lands and indirectly affects another 122 through contamination of watersheds (ISA, 2024).
Projections and Strategic Recommendations
Without significant changes in the response architecture, projections by Ipam (2025) indicate that the area degraded by mining could double by 2030, reaching 500,000 hectares and completely compromising 77 indigenous lands. The consolidation of the Tren de Aragua and its alliances with Brazilian factions could increase the homicide rate in the Legal Amazon by up to 40 percent by 2030 (Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, 2025).
The Brazilian experience shows that the combination of permanent state presence, qualified repression, and gold traceability is effective but insufficient as long as Venezuela remains an operational sanctuary. COP30, held in Belém in November 2025, represented a unique window of opportunity to advance the fight against illegal gold in the Amazon. Although it did not result in a specific binding Amazonian treaty, the Belém Package — adopted by consensus on November 22, 2025, after tense negotiations — integrated criminal dimensions into climate action. This package included the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) highlighting the need for justice responses to transnational environmental crimes such as illegal mining and deforestation. Parallel initiatives, including the Federal Police’s Operation Rejeito (which dismantled fraud at the National Mining Agency in September 2025) and Colombia’s declaration of its Amazon as a mining and oil-free zone, paved the way for discussions on a Global Protocol against Environmental Crimes under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) raised $6.5 billion, emphasizing mineral traceability and support for indigenous territories, but criticism from nongovernmental organizations such as Amazon Watch points to persistent gaps in commitments against cartels, which undermine mitigation goals.
It is therefore recommended that:
- The permanent task force involving Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, and Colombia be strengthened, now with the endorsement of ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization) and initial funding of US$ 50 million via TFFF;
- Tren de Aragua and similar groups be included on the United Nations list of terrorist organizations, aligning with UNODC discussions held in Belém;
- Approximately $ 224.6 million be invested by 2030 in integrated river and air bases in the northern corridor (as proposed by Instituto Escolhas, 2024), complemented by AI monitoring technologies such as Amazon Mining Watch;
- Income and training programs for 50,000 former miners and Venezuelan migrants be implemented in sustainable activities, integrated with the Belém Mission for 1.5° C.
The preservation of the Brazilian Amazon is no longer just an environmental or indigenous rights issue: It has become an imperative for national security and regional stability. The window of opportunity to reverse the advance of Venezuelan TCOs, driven by the small advances made at COP30, must be seized urgently.
References and Links
- Hutukara Yanomami Association / ISA (2021). Yanomami Under Attack Report. https://acervo.socioambiental.org/sites/default/files/documents/yal00067.pdf
- Atlantic Council (2019). Venezuelan Transnational Crime. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/venezuelan-illegal-mining-transnational-crime-displacement-and-violence/
- MapBiomas Brasil (2024). Annual Report on Gold Mining. https://plataforma.brasil.mapbiomas.org/garimpo
- Federal Police (2023). Operation Avis Áurea Report. https://www.gov.br/pf/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2023/02/pf-deflagra-nova-operacao-contra-comercio-de-ouro-ilegal-em-roraima
- Ministry of Defense (2025). Combating illegal mining in Yanomami territory. https://www.gov.br/povosindigenas/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2025/08/protecao-historica-governo-federal-ja-realizou-6-425-acoes-e-impos-r-477-milhoes-em-prejuizo-ao-garimpo-ilegal-na-terra-yanomami
- Federal Revenue Service (2023). NF-e Ouro statistics. https://www.gov.br/receitafederal/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/publicacoes/documentos-tecnicos/nf-e-ouro
- RAISG (2025). Mining in the Amazon. https://www.raisg.org/pt-br/publicacao/pressoes-e-ameacas-sobre-as-areas-protegidas-e-territorios-indigenas-da-amazonia/
- Fiocruz / WWF-Brazil (2025). Mercury in Indigenous Peoples. https://informe.ensp.fiocruz.br/noticias/56396
- Fearnside, P. M. (2025). Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon. Environmental Conservation. https://philip.inpa.gov.br/publ_livres/2025/Rodrigues_et_al-2025-Passando_a_boiada-PADDD.pdf
- Brazilian Forum on Public Safety (2025). Brazilian Yearbook of Public Safety – Legal Amazon. https://forumseguranca.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/anuario-2025.pdf
- Instituto Escolhas (2024). Brazilian gold mines may have used 185 tons of illegal mercury. https://escolhas.org/garimpos-brasileiros-podem-ter-usado-185-toneladas-de-mercurio-ilegal/
- UNODC (2025). Integrating Justice Responses into Climate Action at COP30. https://www.unodc.org/cofrb/en/noticias/2025/11/unodc-highlights-integration-of-justice-responses-into-climate-action-at-cop30.html
- Amazon Watch (2025). The Fight Against Climate Change Is Also Against Organized Crime. https://amazonwatch.org/news/2025/1106-the-fight-against-climate-change-is-also-a-fight-against-organized-crime
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency of the U.S. government, Diálogo magazine, or its members. This article was machine translated.
