Gold smuggling: fact vs deflections

Oct 23, 2025 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

(Kaieteur News) – It is interesting how gold smuggling facts are conveniently deflected to distract an engaged and intrigued public. Once again, I stick to the facts, and let them speak for themselves.

They are not my facts; they are more than Guyanese facts. They are facts from America, as now enshrined in the U.S Federal Grand Jury indictment(s) that came into the public domain on October 6, 2025. The facts are irrefutable, and there is a long line of them that should add to what I write today, as this criminal business of gold smuggling unfolds in the days to come. All the facts presented below, are as alleged, in the U.S. indictment.

FACT ONE: There is a U.S. Federal indictment that identifies gold smuggling occurring in Guyana between 2017-2024. In that indictment, 11 charges are stated.

FACT TWO: All 11 charges presented in the indictment list instances of gold smuggling related activity that occurred between October 2021 and June 2024. Who was in charge of Guyana since August 2020, if not the PPP Government of Dr. Irfaan Ali? Who has been chair of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) during that same period? Those who seek to deflect still have to deal with those facts that are irrefutable, unconquerable.

FACT THREE: For the record, I was chair of the GGB from March 2017 to February 29, 2020. Related fact repeated for emphasis: not one of those 11 charges handed down in the U.S. Federal indictment occurred under my watch. What does that say? Where does that lead? Why is that ignored, obscured, pretended not to exist? Facts versus deflections.

FACT FOUR: Gold smuggling is not a new phenomenon to Guyana. Maybe I am mistaken and it only began during the period 2017-2020, and stopped dead in its tracks in August 2020, when the PPP Government of Dr. Irfaan Ali took office. Of course, there is that inconvenient, revealing indictment with its 11 charges and the dates on which they took place. To pound this fact home: they occurred in the heart of the PPP Government’s control of the entire state machinery, and when I am long gone. Today, Guyanese (and Americans) are watching the antics of the government’s agents-some senior, some who have their roles-to switch ownership from the PPP intellectual authors and managers to one GHK Lall. Shifty and nifty, I say. A little too much of both.

FACT FIVE: There were reports-rumours, hearsay, secondhand-about gold smuggling, and with a common denominator. No mentioning of names, no one stepping forward and pointing a finger at John, Jack, or Joe, and asserting there’s a gold smuggler. It seems that the expectation was that shaky rumours should have been reported to the Guyana Police Force. That expectation is part of the studious attempts at deflection in the hope that Guyanese fall for that distraction. (And I am derailed in the process). The more there is deflection from the facts on the ground, as memorialized in that U.S. Federal indictment, the more those facts wrap themselves around the current PPP Government. The dates are there, and who were/are the close friends? Deflections are indications of desperation, with any port during a storm. GHK Lall is the most convenient one around. The longer the government wants to keep this going, the more I am willing to highlight incontestable and irreversible facts.

FACT SIX: I urge all Guyanese to consider another fact. I have never had the pleasure, the prominence, to be driven in a Lamborghini, new or dilapidated, anywhere in the world. What favour has been done by me to earn such a prized ride? What alliances have I engaged in that leads to such lofty considerations, as a Lamborghini put at my disposal?

FACT SEVEN: From both Guyanese records and the U.S. Federal indictment: there are tax matters with that same Lamborghini featuring significantly; local allegations went high regarding taxes on it.

FACT EIGHT: -My name hasn’t been mentioned anywhere as having any connection in that Lamborghini affair. At least, for the time being. There’s that moment of sanity and rare observance of something approaching truth by the PPP Government and its workers.

In the circumstances, it is reasonable to think that when there are such powerful friendships involving an article that is so much in the open, so much in the face of awed Guyanese, and so unforgettable, it raises the question of what else could be facilitated under the cover of dark. But the deflection is that I own gold smuggling, despite the fact that all the gold smuggling charges embedded in that U.S. indictment occurred under the power of the PPP Government.

Those are the facts. American facts, not mine. Deflections only make gold smuggling matters worse. Let the deflections continue. I have more facts ready.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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deflections, fact, GHK Lall, gold smuggling, Guyana Gold

One thought on “Gold smuggling: fact vs deflections ”

habeeb October 23, 2025 at 11:30 pm

Fact. Not only the Gold smuggling is/was rampant.
Fact: Drug smuggling in every form is rampant.
It is not a small operation. It is believed that BIG PEOPLE at the top
are running this illegal trade ?
It is believed CANU/GPF impotent enough to just seize and destroy some,
whilst much more move along, giving the assumption they are doing a great
job- protecting the top dogs involved ?

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