Vice President (VP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo is calling for stronger penalties for individuals involved in gold smuggling, warning that the actions of a few bad actors, including the likes of United States (US)-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed, are jeopardizing the country’s entire gold sector. Jagdeo made the remarks on Monday, during an interview on the Starting Point podcast where he was questioned about recent remarks made by the President, Dr Irfaan Ali, imploring local gold miners to mine their gold legally and do it in a fair manner. Dr Jagdeo highlighted that despite successful sting operations leading to the arrest of several individuals in gold smuggling, many are released on bail, and prosecuting them on money laundering charges remains difficult.

“When you charge people for smuggling in gold, it’s harder to charge them for money laundering offences so we now have to strengthen the charges that we place on those people… because of the illegal gold smuggling, it puts the sector at risk,” Jagdeo noted.
He reminded that there has been significant work done to apprehend persons through sting operations. In recent sting operations several foreign nationals, including individuals from China, who had been involved in illegal gold trading in Guyana have been arrested.
“So clearly the Chinese are doing some of this,” he said.
“About a year and a half ago there were several sting operations and we actually caught several of them. They were charged here. Some of these people were buying currency and shipping it out to Suriname. [And there were] stings that took place in the Lethem area and in Mahdia and we caught individuals.”
However, he pointed out that the real threat to the country’s gold sector comes from local figures like Mohamed, who has been sanctioned by the US for his role in smuggling gold into the country. “If we were sanctioned globally for our gold sector, all of our gold miners would be put at risk. and a few individuals, including the ‘Team Mohammed’ and Azruddin Mohammed, put the sector sometimes at risk,” Jagdeo added.
“All gold miners are placed at risk, because if we don’t get to export our goal or it comes on a whole range of paper work, etc., the administrative burden of having to export gold goes up. Who do you think it would affect? It will affect the people who mine gold, who sell their mine gold here and who even export their gold legally.”
US-sanctioned Mohamed, who is running as a Presidential Candidate for the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party in the September 1 General and Regional Elections, has caused much concern among Guyanese about the potential harm his actions could inflict on the broader gold industry.
Mohamed’s ties to illegal gold operations, particularly his involvement in circumventing global sanctions, could risk Guyana’s standing on the international market. Mohamed’s influence could pose a significant threat to Guyana’s gold industry should he be elected to the National Assembly.
The risk of global sanctions is particularly concerning because it would affect the livelihoods of gold miners across the country. According to Jagdeo, the smuggling operations, driven by individuals like Mohamed and others, are creating an unstable environment where legitimate businesses and miners could be severely harmed.
Jagdeo reminded of the 2020 situation whereby the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) suspended the intake of gold from a local company, raising alarms about “contaminated” gold, fearing that smuggled Venezuelan gold was entering the system, bypassing sanctions. Today the concerns are concerns about illegal gold smuggling in the other direction.
“There were some worries that Venezuela gold was coming through into our system and then being re-exported and by passing the sanctions, in Venezuela. Now it’s the other way around. We heard that the gold here is being smuggled into Brazil,” Jagdeo noted.
In March Jagdeo had issued a stern warning to individuals involved in gold smuggling, stating that ongoing intelligence operations will result in arrests and legal action.
At the time, the VP had said that Government has also been investigating illegal gold exports from Marudi Mountain, which are suspected to be part of a broader smuggling network.
Jagdeo also addressed concerns about the judiciary’s role in tackling gold smuggling, stating that law enforcement agencies are doing their part but need stronger judicial support.