The authorities have decided to crack down on illegal gold miners in Guyana. A large-scale operation against illegal gold panning was carried out on May 3 in Kourou, bringing a “shutdown” to a network, the gendarmerie announced on Wednesday.
The police seized equipment intended for illegal gold mining sites, as well as 500,000 euros, 10 vehicles, 290 grams of gold, and two firearms. Nearly 380 gendarmes were deployed mainly in the so-called PK6 sector, about ten kilometers from the center of the space city, but also in the municipalities of Macouria, Matoury and Iracoubo.
An operation prepared for a year
This operation, of a rare scale, had been prepared for a year, specified the communication service of the gendarmerie of Guyana, specifying that it resulted in 17 arrests. At the end of the police custody, nine people were placed in pre-trial detention and eight others under judicial control.
The gendarmes were targeting a logistics network intended to supply illegal gold mining sites located in the forest with equipment such as motor pumps, various tools as well as mercury, used to separate gold from other sediments, the use of which has been prohibited in Guyana since 2006. The operation brought “a halt” to the miners, explained the gendarmerie, but did not dismantle the network and the investigation is continuing.