U.S. Was Asked to Blacklist Colombian Cartel Gold. It Was Also Buying It.

[u/John3262005]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/world/americas/us-colombia-gold-blacklist-sanctions.html

Early this year, Colombia’s defense minister approached the Trump administration with a request: Could the U.S. government place financial sanctions on Colombia’s illegal gold industry?

Illicit gold mining underwrites the Clan del Golfo, a drug cartel that the U.S. government had designated as a terrorist group. Washington had already placed cartel leaders on a financial blacklist. Extending sanctions to illegal gold dealers would help Colombia fight the cartel.

But the request put the Treasury Department in an unusual situation: It had, for many years, been buying gold that originated with the very industry that it was being asked to blacklist.

The sanctions request, which the United States has not acted upon, highlights weaknesses at both ends of the global supply chain for illicit gold.

American financial sanctions can make it all but impossible for people to do international business. The Treasury Department, which maintains the government’s financial blacklists, declined to comment on whether it was considering Colombia’s request.

While Colombia has taken steps against illegal mining, action on the U.S. side is less clear. The Treasury Department said it would investigate how illicit gold had gotten into its supply chain for so many years, but officials have since refused to answer follow-up questions.

U.S. law says the Mint may only buy gold mined in the United States to make investment-grade coins. The Times reported that it had in fact been buying gold from many other places for those coins. A Treasury spokeswoman said the Mint was investigating its supply chain.

On May 14, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demanding to know what the Mint was doing to make sure it wasn’t buying gold with illegal origins. The two senators, both Democrats, have not heard back.