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Bullish Gold Market Drawing Drug Traffickers to Colombian Mining
By Colby Adams
printLoose oversight of Colombia's resurgent gold mining industry has made the sector attractive to criminal groups seeking to raise revenue and launder dirty money, say researchers. The problem has worsened as the price of gold has appreciated 100 percent, to roughly $1,800 per ounce, since the approximately $900 per ounce it sold for in January 2008. Second quarter global gold demand in 2011 exceeded 920 tons, worth $44.5 billion-the second highest quarterly value for the commodity on record, according to the World Gold Council. Because of its rising price "gold has very much entered the portfolio" of narco-paramilitary groups involved...
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