The Wall Street Journal published an in-depth story Tuesday about an armed drug cartel that’s illegally mining gold from a China-owned mine in Colombia.
According to the Journal, the drug cartel Gulf Clan has commandeered some 30 miles of tunnels from Zijin Mining Group, a Chinese state-controlled company—causing it to lose some 3.2 tons of gold, estimated to be worth around $200 million and equal to 38% of the mine’s total production. Gulf Clan, which smuggles drugs and migrants to the U.S., reportedly has some 7,000 armed members.
The Gulf Clan reportedly commandeered the tunnels through brute force, forcing Zijin security forces to retreat with explosives and gunfire “in what a company official described as trench warfare.”
“Miners often seize Zijin tunnels by first tossing explosives and shooting at guards,” the Journal said, citing a security guard at the site.
“The miners carry jackleg drills and set off as many as 250 detonations a day to break through rock. Their advance has cost Zijin two of the mine’s three sections,” the newspaper reported.
“The richest and deepest part of the gold mine remains in company hands. Zijin has about 4,500 workers there and at processing centers. The company excavates around 4,000 tons of rock a day, which yields an average of 53 pounds of gold.”
The Gulf Clan also reportedly provides its miners with prostitutes, marijuana, and other drugs.
Zijin Mining Group reportedly purchased its Colombian site in 2020 for $1 billion. The company has reportedly filed a $430 million lawsuit at the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, alleging Colombia authorities aren’t doing their job to ensure cartels aren’t stealing gold.
But according to Colombia’s vice minister of defense, Daniela Gómez, the country doesn’t have the capacity to flush out the clandestine miners from the “subterranean theater of operations.”
“The demands made by the company are not realistic,” said Gómez, according to the Journal. She reportedly said Zijin bought the gold mine operation “knowing that the illegal extraction of minerals was taking place.”
Originally Published by Headline USA.
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