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The area contaminated in Colombia by the illegal extraction of gold reached 640 km2 in 2021, an area equivalent to three times the city of Buenos Aires, revealed this Thursday the UN in its annual report on this activity with which armed groups are financed. “evidence of alluvial gold exploitation (EVOA)” in almost 100,000 hectares (1000 km2), of which 65% (640 km2) would be illegally exploited through the use of machinery to extract mineral from rivers and other watercourses.
The clandestine exploitation of gold pollutes the water with toxins such as mercury, denounces the United Nations report.
These exploitations “finance illicit armed groups and generate serious damage to the environment,” he denounced. Brian Harris, director of anti-narcotics affairs at the United States embassy in Colombia, during the presentation of the document entitled “Colombia: Alluvial Gold Exploitation 2021”.
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According to the document, EVOA and “coca cultivation are two phenomena that converge in 38% of the identified territories.”
Colombia is the main exporter of cocaine of the world and the United States the main consumer of this stimulant drug.
With respect to 2020, the area contaminated by illegal gold mining was practically the same as last year .
It is “a dynamic of stability” although “it continues to be a complex situation,” he pointed out. Pierre Lapaque, representative in Colombia of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The EVOA is concentrated in the northwest, the area of influence of the Clan del Golfo -the largest Colombia’s drug gang – and on the Pacific coast, where the ELN, the country’s last recognized guerrilla group, operates. Both organizations are fighting blood and fire for the rents of this and other illegal economies.
As in the previous year, in 2021 half of the affected land belongs to areas “of environmental interest such as natural parks and reserve areas,” Lapaque. “It’s alarming for conservation purposes,” he said.
The investigation does not specify the amount of illegally mined gold or its commercial value. In 2020, Colombia extracted 48.6 tons of gold, which corresponds to 1.5% of world production.