The U.S. government buys gold from cartel mines in South America, according to The New York Times. Why does this matter? Because it is against the law.
Federal law requires the U.S. to use only U.S.-mined gold for its investor-grade coins, and the U.S. Mint claims that it does. But a Times reporter followed the supply chain and was easily able to trace the metal back to cartel-run mines in Colombia.
“The mines were run by the Clan del Golfo, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that,” according to the Times, “sells drugs and gold, and uses violence to hold onto its territory.”
Is this just one of those things? Supply chains are complicated, so, oh well, our gold is dirty? That would be a generous explanation. We can trace bolts in a car. We can certainly track precious metals.
After we presented our findings, a Treasury spokeswoman said the department is investigating the Mint’s gold procurement and has tightened its sourcing standards to make sure the United States is the “primary” source of the gold the mint buys.
If gold tied to cartel-run mines is entering the supply chain, then it’s not just a sourcing issue. It means money is flowing back to violent groups. The very groups the U.S. itself designates as terrorists.
The U.S. Treasury says it will investigate, but investigate what? Whether this happened, how long it’s been happening, or how it went unnoticed?
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