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Stricter measures put a dent in gold smuggling – Trotman
Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman
The relentless pursuit of gold smugglers by multiple agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is helping to propel the mining sector to record number of gold declarations, according to Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman.
Speaking with Kaieteur News, the minister outlined that after taking office in 2015, the coalition government moved swiftly to investigate gold smuggling that resulted in high-profile cases, particularly one that involved an alleged money laundering scheme at the Guyana Gold Board (GGB).
“We have an ongoing investigation at the Guyana Gold Board, which is one we ordered because of the concerns of both smuggling and the evasion of taxes and revenue,” Trotman stated.
Several agencies are collaborating to trap smugglers in a widely cast dragnet, as is the case with the GGB probe, which is being spearheaded by the police’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and stems from suspicious transactions starting last year, involving a popular Bartica gold dealer.
Earlier this year, several senior Gold Board officials were sent on administrative leave pending investigations.
Shortly after the Ramotar administration was defeated at the May 2015 general elections, a team from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, visited Guyana and briefed officials of the David Granger-led administration about the massive gold smuggling operations, built from the ground up, to include miners and officials at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri.
Trotman also pointed to last month’s arrest of a woman when officials discovered 67 ounces of undeclared raw gold in her possession.
“We have seen in the first instance an increase in declarations which tells us that production is up, but it is also indicative of the fact that we have made a dent in the incidence of smuggling,” Trotman outlined.
As it relates to gold declarations, Guyana is on target to achieve its target of 700,000 ounces of gold by year end. By mid-year, more than 360,000 ounces had been declared and export earnings were more than US$450 million.
Trotman noted that persons with criminal minds and criminal intent will always look for loopholes and it is the job of the authorities to be constantly vigilant.
“Sometimes you think you plug one; they create or find another. We have found some loopholes, and we have moved to close them off. It is not to say that the process is complete, because once we close off some loopholes that we found, no doubt efforts are going to be made to discover new ones or create holes in some of those that we have plugged. It’s a bit of both, and it requires constant and continued vigilance,” Trotman stated.
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