But to U.S. experts, the cases show that gold now plays a central role in the billion-dollar business of washing dirty money. Good as gold. So pervasive is its criminal use that gold is joining the U.S. dollar as the standard currency of the drug trade. Authorities have traced the movement of tons of gold and billions of dollars to deals by Latin American drug cartels. U.S. gold imports from Latin American drug havens have skyrocketed.
Authorities say much of the gold is tied to money laundering and tax scams.
Narcotics traffickers are taking over the Latin American gold trade, industry officials say. Colombian drug dealers are paying exorbitant prices for gold and buying up small dealers across the region. For drug traffickers, the gold market is like a magnet. While many gold companies operate legitimately, interviews with traders, refiners, and law enforcement officials depict an industry riddled with money laundering, tax fraud, smuggling, and dubious bookkeeping. But the impact of an illicit gold trade goes beyond the corruption of one industry.