See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w... This is the short version. US Mint, supposed to buy only US mined gold, is buying gold from drug cartels with mining set up on foreign military bases within walking distance of the commander. Everyone acts surprised.

Incredible reporting and a scene here - and an inside look at the risks the journalists took to report this story. "One miner threatened the colonel with a stick. Then he doused the soldiers and me with gas and shouted, “We’re all going to burn!”" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

Corruption in the U.S. meets exploitive mining by cartels. NYT We hadn’t come to La Mandinga to report on the military base. We came because we had learned that Clan del Golfo gold was making its way to the U.S. Mint, despite laws requiring the Mint to buy only gold mined in the United States.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w... U.S. Mint Buys Drug Cartel Gold and Sells It as ‘American’ 🔥🔥🔥

The images were clear: Gold miners with high-pressure hoses were tearing up a forested area of a Colombian military base. We could see what appeared to be a former fence line — but no sign of a fence separating the base from La Mandinga. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w... Officers denied that an illegal, large-scale gold operation was underway within earshot of their posts. But we had seen it with our own eyes.

When we showed him the evidence, he, like everyone else, said he was surprised and promised to crack down. It left us wondering: We had such an easy time tracking this gold. Were others even looking? See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

[NYT] WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE NEW YORK TIMES FOUND A CARTEL MINE ON A COLOMBIAN MILITARY BASE

Even more BONKERS... www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

"In fact, the Mint has looked away for decades as gold from dubious sources flows into its plant in West Point, N.Y." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w... Like Woody Allen movie "the colonel had insisted that there was no way illicit gold was moving right under his nose." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

See What Happened After We Found a Cartel Mine on a Military Base www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...