How gold surpassed cocaine as Peru’s most profitable criminal industry

AI desk brief

Peru’s illegal gold sector has become a major criminal economy as record-high bullion prices incentivize mining deep in Amazon reserves, with authorities saying it has overtaken drug trafficking as the country’s most profitable illicit industry. The article cites gold above $4,650/oz in late August after peaking near $5,600/oz in late January, and says a single dredger can produce up to 50 grams a day, enough to fetch more than $6,000 in Madre de Dios at current prices.

The supply-side damage is substantial: satellite data show more than 500 hectares of Tambopata reserve rainforest lost to mining in the last year, and over 140,000 hectares lost in Madre de Dios overall, accounting for 97.5% of Peru’s mining-related Amazon deforestation. Authorities say raids have destroyed or seized about $500m of machinery and roughly 150 barges/motors, but the illicit trade keeps re-forming through weak enforcement and laundering via the Reinfo registration system.