3 foreign nationals sentenced for illegal gold mining in Iwokrama Protected Area

Two Brazilian nationals and one Venezuelan national who were caught red-handed operating illegal gold mining operations in the Iwokrama Forest Protected Area were sentenced to five months each. Rondiney Barbosa Pereira and Edwardo De Souza Braz from Brazil and Cristhian Jose Cedero from Venezuela were arrested on December 10, 2025, by rangers attached to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and Iwokrama, along with members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

However, after three months of court hearings, which saw nine witnesses testifying, the trio who initially pleaded not guilty changed their plea and were fined under the GGMC Act and sentenced to serve five months in prison each.
In light of this, Iwokrama’s management stated that it is grateful for the continued support of the Natural Resources Ministry, the GGMC, the GPF, the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their support in these enforcement operations. Nevertheless, the management of Iwokrama reported that it has also noticed with grave concern the presence of “Draggers” (river dredges) in the area.
“In fact, one Dragger had to be removed by GGMC in February last from an area that is special to Iwokrama, nearby communities and other tourism operators for charismatic aquatic wildlife,” Iwokrama stated in a release.

“It is especially concerning that yet another suspected illegal dragger was seen being built at Kurupukari Landing since January 2026, which is not a designated Mining Landing. Foreign nationals from Brazil without work permits were seen building the dragger, and when told to stop by the GPF Immigration in February 2026.” As a result, they subsequently moved to Chinie Landing, a designated Mining Landing, and continued building the dragger structure without work permits. The legality of the mining papers presented is very unclear.
“It is very concerning as well that there is also currently yet another ‘dragger’ under construction at Chinie Landing with foreign nationals who possess work permits who showed police a map of the area they plan to mine-further downstream in the Essequibo River (i.e., River Mining).”
According to Iwokrama, the rivers bordering protected areas act as buffer zones, and a further one-kilometer inland are designated buffer zone spaces. Meanwhile, the Centre has once again reminded the public and other stakeholders that gold mining activities are prohibited in the Iwokrama Forest and rivers that buffer the Protected Area. It reiterated that such illegal activities pose an imminent threat to our national ecological integrity, disrupt local livelihoods and traditional practices and undermine Guyana’s forestry and protected areas management systems.