Traffickers Leave No Stone Unturned
What the largest exposed mercury smuggling operation tells us about gold, the shortcomings of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the convergence of crimes in Latin America
EIA’s groundbreaking investigation reveals the largest mercury smuggling operation ever documented. Over 200 tons of toxic mercury have been trafficked from Mexican mercury mines to illegal gold mines in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, from April 2019 to June 2025. This transnational trade, in violation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, is fueling violence, forest destruction, and the release of massive amounts of mercury in the Amazon, which contaminates ecosystems and communities.
The report exposes how Mexican mercury mines, some allegedly taken over by organized crime, are driving a deadly supply chain that links gold mining, environmental devastation, and human rights abuses. As an Amazonian illegal gold miner told EIA investigators: “There is no gold without mercury.” With mercury use in artisanal gold mining now the world’s leading source of mercury pollution, EIA calls for urgent international action: accelerate the closing of mercury mines and end the legal loopholes in the Minamata Convention that benefit traffickers and illegal gold miners.
