SEVERAL local and international players in the gold industry are on the radar, as investigators intensify their probe into the organised billion dollar gold smuggling racket.Speaking at a post-cabinet press briefing yesterday, Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman disclosed that, “There are some known persons and other players, local and international, that are on the radar and as I said, we are moving to take action.”
The current investigations are headed by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), and Guyana is working in collaboration with foreign governments to tackle the smuggling racket which has been fleecing the national treasury.
Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman, who has responsibility for the Natural Resources sector, had reported earlier that the new Administration had found evidence of “rampant” gold smuggling, particularly to neighbouring countries Brazil and Suriname, and also the United States.
“From what we are seeing gold is going over our borders with Brazil and Suriname and some amounts are going up to the U.S.,” said Trotman, according to media reports.
“There is gold smuggling going on in Guyana. We’re aware of it and it is a problem that’s being addressed and in fact a meeting is being convened on Thursday (September 10) with some agencies and persons concerned to see how we can better streamline our activities.”
Meanwhile, according to reports, a number of businessmen who have an interest in the gold mining sector have been fingered in the smuggling ring; most of them have businesses in Georgetown, Bartica and other interior communities.
While pointing out that several steps are being taken to arrest the situation, Trotman did not want to reveal what measures will be put in place by the APNU+AFC Government.
“Bringing something like smuggling to zero is not always possible but it is the duty of government to bring it to a minimum,” Minister Trotman said.
Reports indicate that the U.S. embassy has already moved in and revoked the visas for a number of businessmen over money laundering and smuggling suspicions. However, the minister referred members of the media to the embassies for more information on that aspect, noting that he was unaware of this.
Meanwhile, observers are of the view that the gold smuggling has played a huge part in lessening the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It was first felt that scores of miners had been affected by the falling price on the world market for the precious metal, bringing a subsequent drop in production.
However, the evidence now emerging indicates that the huge drop stems from an organised smuggling racket that involved ordinary business persons as well as licensed gold traders. The racket also points to collusion by key personnel at the country’s airports.
Though it is alleged that customs officers from the Guyana Revenue Authority are involved in the scam, the agency has refuted this in a statement, saying that its officers play a limited role at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport with regard to the movement of passengers.