The Rise of Environmental Crime: A Growing Threat to Natural Resources, Peace, Development and Security

cartels in Latin America. In spite of declining prices recently, organized criminal groups engage in expansion of illegal gold mining. Estimates of the proportion of illegal gold mining are: About 28% of gold mined in Peru, 30% of gold mined in Bolivia, 77% of gold mined in Ecuador, 80% of gold mined in Colombia and 80–90% of Venezuelan gold is produced illegally. Hundreds of thousands of workers are employed, similar to DRC with some 500,000 artisanal and illegal mining jobs, often including labour trafficking and exploita- tion, sex trafficking and child labour. Impacts on the environment are considerable – gold mining is one of the most destructive industries and illegal ignores legal requirements and restrictions by displacing communi- ties, contaminating drinking water and polluting water and land with mercury and cyanide. Colombia has the largest popu- lation of displaced persons in the world, of which 87% come from areas with a heavy presence of illegal mining: Indeed, arti- sanal gold miners spill more than 30 tons of mercury in rivers and lakes in the Amazon region every year, poisoning fish and causing brain damage to humans living as far as 400km downstream. Cartels and militants often control the mines: GI reported that “In Sur de Bolívar, Colombia, 1,500 workers were employed at a mine owned by the wife of an ex-AUC leader and were not able to leave the area without being accompanied by the narco-paramilitary group operating in the area.” 177 Criminal networks exploiting natural resources in conflicts and funding rebel group According to some estimates, illicit natural resources exploita- tion in eastern DRC is valued at over USD 1.25 billion per year (USD 722–862 million if excluding diamonds also sourced outside eastern DRC). Of these amounts, an estimated 10–30 per cent (range USD 72–426 million per annum) goes to transnational organized criminal groups. Annual net profits to organized crime is conservatively esti- mated to derive from: i) gold (USD 40–120 million); ii) timber (USD 16–48 million); iii) charcoal (USD 12–35 million); iv) 3T minerals (USD 7.5–22.6m); v) diamonds sourced mainly from outside the conflict zone (USD 16–48 million); and vi) wildlife, including ivory and fisheries, local taxation schemes, cannabis and other resources (USD 14.3–28 million). (Quoted from UNEP-MONUSCO-OSESG. 2015. Experts’ back- ground report on illegal exploitation and trade in natural resources benefitting organized criminal groups and recommendations on MONUSCO’s role in fostering stability and peace in eastern DR Congo. Final report. April 15th 2015. Available at www.unep.org and www.rhipto.org)

25–49 rebel groups per year, and enables defeated or disarmed groups to continuously resurface and destabilize the region.

A recent report by Global Initiative Against Organized Crime, consisting of around 100 of the World’s leading experts against organized crime, highlighted the devastating impact of illegal mining and its links to both armed groups and drug

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