UNIS/CP/1188
20 May 2025
VIENNA, 20 May (UN Information Service) – The growing demand for minerals is amplifying the risks of crime, corruption and instability in the mineral supply chain, says a new study from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released today.
In Minerals Crime: Illegal Gold Mining, part two of the Global Analysis on Crimes that Affect the Environment, UNODC examines the motivations driving diverse actors to engage in minerals crime, as well as the destinations of the unprocessed metals and minerals and the proceeds from their trade.
Organized crime groups and corporations as well as individual actors are involved in illegal gold mining and trafficking, the study finds. Organized crime groups have increasingly embedded themselves in gold supply chains, attracted by the sector’s high profitability and the rising value of gold. Drug trafficking organizations in Latin America have expanded into illegal gold mining, taking advantage of established drug smuggling routes and infrastructure. Revenues from gold are then reinvested into other criminal operations. In Africa, however, some organized crime groups operate exclusively in gold, while others use gold profits to fund armed activity, challenge state authority or fuel conflict.
Local populations in both regions may face sexual exploitation, forced labour or displacement as a result.
All types of actors involved in illegal mining and trafficking use fraud, corruption and money laundering to enable their crimes and bring illegally-sourced metals and minerals into licit global markets. Organized crime groups, corporations, and traders alike exploit legal loopholes and weak regulatory oversight to conceal the origin of minerals and metals. They may bribe officials to obtain mining concessions or avoid legal consequences for violations, or forge permits and other documentation.
Illegal mining is intensifying environmental damage, the study emphasizes, including via the use of banned or hazardous chemicals like mercury, deforestation to enable access to mineral deposits, and illegal dumping of solid waste. These practices – which bypass environmental regulations – not only degrade ecosystems and accelerate biodiversity loss but also pose serious threats to public health.
“We need better data to quickly spot and respond to the criminal exploitation of the mining sector, together with more globally harmonized legislation and standards,” noted Angela Me, Chief of Research and Analysis at UNODC. “Due diligence and traceability of critical minerals are essential, alongside targeted law enforcement responses to ensure the security of supply chains of critical minerals.”
Read the full chapter here.
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This study is part 2(b) of UNODC’s first-ever Global Analysis on Crimes that Affect the Environment. UNODC will be releasing studies on waste crime and trafficking and marine pollution crime; illegal fishing; and a full global analysis on how crimes that affect the environment contribute to climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Check back at unodc.org for more details.
Read part 1, The Landscape of Criminalization, and part 2 (a), “Forest Crimes: Illegal Deforestation and Logging”.
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For further information, please contact:
Sonya Yee
Chief, UNODC Advocacy Section
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-4990
Email: unodc-press[at]un.org
Spain has ratified the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships, also known as the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”.
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