...[Two] trends intersected: soaring gold prices greatly increased the profitability of gold mining, whilst the US led “War on Drugs”, notably in Colombia and Mexico...sharply reduced the profitability of drug trafficking from Latin America to the USA. As a result, there were considerable incentives for the criminal groups that control the drug trade to move into gold mining, and the fragmented nature of artisanal gold mining in Latin America greatly facilitated their entry…The change of strategy by the drug trafficking groups proved so successful that in Peru and Colombia – the largest cocaine producers in the world – the value of illegal gold exports now exceeds the value of cocaine exports…The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime carried out desk and field research in Latin America...Desk research focused on Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela…The U.S. Mint is the main buyer of gold in the USA…buying from six principal suppliers, of which the largest, Coins ‘N Things of Massachusetts, provided 40%...Florida is also a major hub, due to the refining activities of Republic Metals Corporation (RMC) and Kaloti Metals & Logistics…For illegal gold to be exported from Lain America, it needs certificates of origin and purchase receipts, which are generally supplied to the bigger traders by chains of acopiadores (consolidators), who purchase directly from the small mines or from informal gold buyers who operate in cities and in hardware stores that advance supplies to miners in exchange for repayment in gold… The destination countries and companies were the international refining corporations Metalor Technologies and MKS Finance from Switzerland and Northern Texas Refinery (NTR Metals) and Republic Metals Corporation (RMC) from the USA. Italpreziosi from Italy and the Dubai based Kaloti group were also suspected of buying hundreds of tons of presumed illegally sourced gold…Despite the suspicious load, SUNAT officials could not intervene because goods under transhipment are not subject to physical examination...Italpreziosi from Italy and the Dubai based Kaloti group were also suspected of buying hundreds of tons of presumed illegally sourced gold.105.  The judicial authorities of Peru have accused these six companies, of which four are part of the London Bullion Market Association, of 25 criminal acts arising from the seizure of one ton of gold in Callao between 2013 and 2014 and the money laundering of the proceeds of illegal mining”. (…)  [Refers to Expominera SAS, Joyería MVK, Universal Metal Trading, AS Perú SAS, E&M Company, Minera Tambogata, Sociedad Minera La Rinconada, Minerales del Sur, Ananea Mining Co, Titan General Contractors, Mineraven, Axbridge Corp., Activos Minerales, Ecuacorriente (part of Corriente Resources]