By Jhoan Sebastian Cote, EL ESPECTADOR, December 2, 2024
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
Hundreds of square kilometers and mirror-like water pillaged by machinery for illegal mining. Mercury dumped there to poison the environment for people and animals that live there. The perfect business for the Clan del Golfo. That’s the nightmare for Córdoba and Antioquia.
Flying over the three main nuclei of illegal mining in the Bajo Cauca of Córdoba and Antioquia Departments is to witness one of the most heartbreaking prospects anywhere in Colombia. There are 873 square kilometers, the equivalent of twice the surface of Medellín, where you can see the monster tread of the heavy machinery in the middle of the native forests, degrading the land to the point that it’s turning into a desert of red and orange tones. The mirror-like waters are transformed into wells which, even though they look like an oasis because they appear to be blue, in reality, that’s the result of the mercury they use to extract the mineral. The business is even more profitable than drug trafficking, which in this area is run by the Clan de Golfo and where Colombia’s Armed Forces hardly dare to appear.
In the tour, EL ESPECTADOR saw the nuclei of illegal mining in the rural areas Ayapel (Córdoba) and Nechí and Caucasia (Antioquia). They are the clear example of the problem at the national level, given that, according to the UN Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODE in Spanish), Nechí and Ayapel are two of the ten municipalities with the greatest presence of the alluvial deposit method of gold mining, meaning on river banks using earth-moving equipment. Caucasia, for its part, is the municipality that reported the fourth highest production of gold between 2017 and 2021. It’s also the place in the whole country where the most “barequeros” (artisanal gold miners) are working, with more than 33,000. Just in the alluvial deposit method of mining, gold is being extracted illegally on more than 66,000 hectares in Colombia.
The blue water is the ACPM (fuel oil) and mercury they use to separate the gold from other minerals and the earth that’s extracted. The earth turns red because they start washing and using the machines and using the water. Our food supply has been badly damaged. They’re destroying the land that we use to grow rice and yuca,” says Norelys Arias, who lives there. In Bajo Cauca a lot of people survive on agriculture and fishing. Those who choose artisanal mining in areas where illegal mining is prohibited do so because, really, they have no choice. According to the Antioquia Planning Department, in 2020-2023, Nechí had an extreme level of poverty, 20%, and the surrounding municipalities had the lowest living conditions of the nine Antioquia subregions.
The organized armed groups have taken over all the power here, where the population is in a condition of absolute vulnerability and the government is barely present. Although the FARC dominated this area in the past, now it’s the Clan del Golfo that’s present in the countryside through the Urabá Central Blocs and Roberto Vargas Gutiérrez. He recalls alias Gavilán, a now-deceased member of the Clan who was a member of the Miners Bloc of the Self-Defense Forces that operated in Bajo Cauca during the ‘90’s and the early 2000’s. According to intelligence information this newspaper has seen, the Clan acts as the primary purchaser of the gold, later inserting it into the legal market through trading, merchandizing, and international markets.
The authorities have mapped out that the sale of gold is much more profitable than drug trafficking and by selling it in other countries they can even triple its cost. The results of the illegal mining are day-to-day, not like the production of cocaine, which is measured by the week. Controlling the area gives all the advantage to the Clan, as the extraction of gold requires less of an investment in logistics and takes less time to produce illegal income. In addition, while for drug trafficking they have to be constantly on guard against the constant operations, controls, and criminal sanctions, in Colombia there is no legal provision for the prosecution of those who possess, transport and market gold. In recent months, the National Police seized 124 units of yellow machinery, 19,109 gallons of fuel, and arrested 108 members of criminal groups in the region.
According to Andrea Agudelo, chief of economic crimes at UNODE, “gold is very interesting for the illegal armed groups because it’s an investment. In some countries they are issued gold bar certificates which are an investment constant and don’t lose value. Also, in regions like Bajo Cauca, they control the whole chain. Everybody that does mining, legal, illegal, or informal, has to pay an assessment for marketing. The groups sell security in the area. They build roads and charge for their use. They also require a percentage for the use of the machinery.” Besides, the world is always demanding more gold, which generates a circular business. According to the United States Geological Service, while in 2005 gold production was 2,470 tons worldwide, since 2015 it’s more than 3,000 tons.
In municipalities like Caucasia, nevertheless, water is beyond price. “A human being can survive without a lot of food at a time, or material things, but never without a supply of water. In the territories in Bajo Cauca in Antioquia, we all live from water, directly or indirectly. We are campesinos, farmers, fishermen. Not everything in this life has to be money,” adds Norelys Arias. That luxurious watch, that precious necklace, and those millions of dollars in the pockets of the criminals, in this region their echo is in fish contaminated by mercury. Being exposed to that material affects the nervous system, causes loss of coordination and cognitive deterioration. Drinking that water makes it sure that you will have kidney and cardiovascular problems and damage to mental development in the womb.
In recent months, the National Police have discovered 86 production units for open pit mining in Bajo Cauca alone. UNODC also establishes that 13 of the 32 departments are showing gold being extracted from alluvial deposits, with Chocó being the most endangered, with 39,000 hectares. In spite of being located right in a gold mine, the area of Urabá and Bajo Cauca receives a minimum investment from the government, for which it’s necessary to “increase the levels of formalization and legalization, and thus increase the government revenues in taxes and royalties. Those funds could then be invested in the areas being harmed the most by this phenomenon,” the Office explained. Meanwhile, the human beings and the ecosystems are suffering the consequences caused by the people who are bleeding the area for their own personal benefit, and are leaving a stream of death with no horizon.