Illegally mined gold has overtaken cocaine to become Peru and Colombia’s most lucrative illicit export, according to a new report that warns the shift from drug cultivation to criminal mining in many Latin American countries is fuelling “staggering” human rights abuses and wrecking the environment…The study – from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime – says the increasing involvement of organised criminal groups in illegal gold mining is funding terrorism, facilitating money laundering and corruption, displacing local populations and driving people trafficking, child labour and sexual exploitation…It says the trend is down to high gold prices over recent years and the success of US-led efforts to crack down on drug trafficking from Latin America…Corporations, Global Initiative says, must adhere to the UN guiding principles on business and human rights and do a better job of mapping out supply chains and ensuring that gold is sourced responsibly and ethically...