"BOGOTA, Colombia — Police and prosecutors from Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname have arrested nearly 200 people in their first-ever joint cross-border operation targeting illegal gold mining in the Amazon region, authorities said Thursday.
The operation was backed by Interpol — the international police cooperation agency that helps law enforcement agencies in different countries share information and coordinate investigations — as well as the European Union and Dutch police specializing in environmental crime. Carried out in December, it involved more than 24,500 checks on vehicles and people across remote border areas and led to the seizure of cash, unprocessed gold, mercury, firearms, drugs and mining equipment, Interpol said.
Among those arrested were three men detained in Guyana on suspicion of gold smuggling and money laundering after officers seized unprocessed gold and about $590,000 in cash. Investigators said the suspects are believed to be part of an organized crime group and may have links to a major gold exporting company in Guyana."
Steven Grattan reports for the Associated Press January 22, 2026.
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