President Dr Irfaan Ali on Friday night committed to putting the necessary measures in place to curb Venezuelan gold from being smuggled into Guyana.
This comes after Guyana received a warning from the United States earlier on Friday about the threat that this illicit activity poses by funding the Nicolás Maduro regime.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the United States Embassy in Georgetown to celebrate the 249th anniversary of America’s Independence, the Guyanese Head of State disclosed that the US reminded all of its partners about this serious threat from Venezuela.
“Only today, the US reminded all of its partners about the serious threat with Venezuela, as it relates to gold smuggling. And we have received that advisory today, and we want you to know that we are putting enormous resources into ensuring that the threat of illicit gold smuggling that could help to empower or safeguard undemocratic forces are uprooted with our partnership,” President Ali stated on Friday evening.
Local authorities have long suspected that Venezuela is smuggling gold into Guyana to be laundered through various networks here.
In recent years, there has been a widespread crackdown on gold smuggling in Guyana with a series of operations targeting foreign nationals suspected of being involved in unlawful mining activities here.
According to President Ali, the US, through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, has been supporting ongoing efforts to enhance law enforcement and security cooperation in Guyana as well as the wider Caribbean.
He pointed out that the March 2025 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding during the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscores the joint commitment between Washington DC and Georgetown to addressing common security challenges.
“The MOU builds on our long-standing partnership and aims to deepen collaboration in areas such as counter narcotics and the fight against transnational organised crime, and strengthening security and defence cooperation,” President Ali stressed.
Back in June 2024, the US sanctioned Guyanese businessmen Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, along with their businesses: Mohamed’s Enterprise; its subsidiary, Hadi’s World; and Team Mohamed’s Racing Team, over gold smuggling and public corruption allegations.
According to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Mohamed’s Enterprise smuggled some 10,000 kilogrammes of gold out of Guyana between 2019 and 2023, thus avoiding paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes.
Shortly after the sanctions, Guyana had requested the relevant information and documentation from the US Government to conduct its own investigations.
In March of this year, local law enforcement agencies, including the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), received a ‘sufficient volume’ of evidence to take action against the businessmen.
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