It was during my third visit to La Mandinga, a gold mine controlled by the Colombian drug cartel, that I understood how badly the institutions meant to stop illegal mining had failed.
This mine was adjacent to the Colombian military base. Weren’t people worried about working right under the nose of officials? After all, the mine supported the notorious Clan del Golfo cartel.
barely. One miner told me and my colleagues that the operation had extended beyond the military perimeter line and that workers were mining gold directly on the base.
“Fly the drone and see,” the miner said.
so did we. The images were stark: Miners with high-pressure hoses were tearing apart a wooded area of the base, home to Rifles Battalion 31, a Colombian military unit. We could see what appeared to be a former fence line – but there was no sign of the fence separating the base from La Mandinga. When we shared the photos with the military and sought comment, the base commander, Colonel Daniel Echeverri, denied that any gold mining was taking place at his base.
It made no sense to us. Diesel generators at an operational mine are deafening and from satellite imagery, we can see that the mines extend to within about 150 yards of the base’s swimming pool and outbuildings.
Colonel Echeverri invited me to the base to talk, so I went. He told me that in the six months he was in charge, he was aware of illegal miners in the neighborhood, but he said the military was hesitant to take armed action against civilians, even if they were committing crimes. But he was adamant that the miners were not on base.
As a journalist, I’m not in the business of leading authorities to the scene of criminal activity. I never want to be part of the story. But here was a colonel on record denying what I had seen with my own eyes.
So I asked if we could go for a walk.
I could hear the sound of generators in the distance. After five minutes, the forest opened up into a view of cracked soil and muddy potholes. Miners with high-pressure hoses were running a full-scale illegal gold mining operation, as we watched from the sky.
Colonel Echeverri paused. “It’s inside the base,” he said. He ordered the miners to leave. “We can shoot you for trespassing!” he shouted.
I don’t know whether the miners were working there secretly or whether they had any agreement with anyone on the base. Either way, I expected them to fall apart.
Instead, they continued shouting obscenities and working.
Since we were on a military base, additional security forces were nearby.
Soldiers arrived with gasoline canisters. They sprinkled water on mining equipment and set it on fire.
“You can’t burn our equipment!” A miner working in underwear shouted. He swore an oath to the soldiers before snatching his gold ore and running away.
Some miners took out knives. Others threw stones. The soldiers started cutting the hose with chain saws.
Workers tried to save their equipment and extinguish the fire with buckets of dirty water.
Miners pay the Clan del Golfo for mining rights in La Mandinga. It was clear that, as far as many of them were concerned, they believed that authority extended only to where we stood – military assets or not.
A miner threatened the colonel with a stick. Then he sprayed gas on the soldiers and me and shouted, “We’re all going to burn!”
The colonel said it was time to go. The soldier and I retreated.
Colonel Echeverri looked shaken. He oversees about 800 people who are responsible for cracking down on the clan and other armed groups in the area. The gold trade keeps those groups armed and in control of territory.
We did not come to La Mandinga to report to the military base. We came because we had learned that the gold of the Clan del Golfo was going to the American Mint, whereas by law the Mint was required to purchase only gold mined in the United States.
Colonel Echeverri initially had the same reaction to our findings that many others in the gold supply chain did. Like the Mint, the Mint’s suppliers, and the exporters shipping gold to the United States, the Colonel insisted that there was no way the illegal gold was going to pass under their noses.
When we showed him the evidence, like everyone else, he said he was surprised and promised to take action.
This surprised us: how easy a time we had tracking down this gold. Were other people watching too?
justin scheck Contributed to the reporting.
