…SOCU seizes substantial quantity of gold, $26M
Acting on intelligence received, officers of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Guyana Police Force on Wednesday intercepted an attempt to illegally smuggle gold from Lethem in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) across the border into Brazil.
In the process, SOCU officers have seized a substantial quantity of gold along with more than Gy$26 million in cash; and have detained two Brazilian nationals: Albina Filho Alves Vieira, a 42-year-old salesman of 55 Boa Vista, Brazil, and Erizangela Regia De Olivera, a 39-year-old Brazilian clothes vendor of Lot 3 Boa Vista, Brazil. These two suspects are currently assisting SOCU with investigations that are ongoing. 
SOCU Head, Deputy Police Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, in explaining that this operation has effectively prevented the illegal transfer of gold across the border, has said,
“This interception underscores our unwavering dedication to tackling gold smuggling and protecting the nation’s economy. We will continue to pursue and dismantle illicit networks engaged in these activities.”
This latest enforcement action follows a similar operation that occurred in July last year at the Ramada Princess Hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara, where authorities arrested three Chinese nationals in connection with an illegal gold-smuggling ring. That raid had led to the confiscation of over $50 million in cash, plus money-counting machines and an unlicensed firearm.
Comptroller of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Rohan Beekhoo, had said at a seminar on Illicit Trade, organised by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) at the Marriott Hotel in September 2024, that even as law enforcement agencies were stepping up their efforts to clamp down on gold smuggling, new trends were emerging as criminals attempted to smuggle gold. He had said that those trends were being tracked.
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) had also announced that it would embark on a countrywide enforcement exercise to ensure all players in the gold market are operating in compliance with statutory requirements. Under Sections 6 and 8 of the Guyana Gold Board Act, persons who possess gold as a producer (miner) or a tributor are required to sell it to the Guyana Gold Board, or to an authorised buyer. An authorized buyer is any one of six gold dealers currently licensed by the Gold Board, or any person/entity who is licensed by the GGMC to trade in gold. The Gold Board has offices in Georgetown, Port Kaituma and Bartica, and conducts periodic mobile transactions in other mining districts.
In keeping with Section 8 of the Guyana Gold Board Act, it is illegal for any person to sell any gold to a goldsmith or jeweller, or for a goldsmith or jeweller to purchase any gold from any person/entity other than the Guyana Gold Board.
Two US citizens and one Guyanese had been intercepted in June 2024 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri with US$560,000 worth of raw gold. They were subsequently charged with the offence of exporting gold without a licence, in contravention of Section 8 of the Guyana Gold Board Act, Chapter 66:01, and contrary to section 23 (a) of the said Act. They were also charged under Guyana’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML/CFT) law, and were placed on bail totalling $600,000.
Further, in sanctioning the Mohamed family and their associated businesses, the United States had alleged that some 10,000 kilograms of gold had been smuggled out of Guyana between 2019 and 2023.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury, which had announced sanctions against the Mohameds, has alleged that by under-declaring their gold and evading the payment of taxes on exports, the Mohameds had defrauded the Guyana Government of more than US$50 million in duty taxes.
