El Chical, Ecuador (EFE).- Illegal gold «fever» has struck El Chical, an Ecuadorian town on the border with Colombia that until a few months ago was quiet but now lives a «new reality» due to the invasion of illegal mining by criminal groups that take the extracted gold to Colombia to process it, according to residents.
«Due to the lack of opportunities in our territory, El Chical is now living a new reality. In the absence of government support, the community has seen the need to carry out other activities,» Carmita Malte, president of the municipal government of El Chical, in the northern Andean province of Carchi on the border with Colombia, told EFE.
However, Malte admitted that local leaders are concerned that this activity is a time bomb that could explode in the form of increased river pollution and, above all, in bringing violence that has already begun appear.
Since 2024, the army has carried out more frequent operations, destroying dozens of mines and seizing explosives, electric generators, and other tools used in illegal mining.
On Jan. 9, during one of the most recent operations, residents clashed with soldiers. Local media reported that people were beaten and several arrested.
2,000 dollars entry
Another resident, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, told EFE that a whole system had been set up in El Chical for illegal mining and is «managed by the guerrillas.»
The international price of gold has reached an all-time high of over 3,000 dollars an ounce (28.3 grams).
«The drilling costs 2,000 dollars, in addition to the money you need to pay the workers and all the equipment to do the work. The total investment is usually around 5,000 dollars, more or less, including the guerrilla tax,» the person said.
Although the anonymous resident did not name the alleged guerrillas, local media have reported the presence of dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and other armed groups in the area, who are said to be taking control of the illegal mining, particularly in El Chical.
The resident said that those who pay for the mining shafts from which gold is usually extracted must hire miners from Monday to Sunday and that if a worker wants to change mines, «he informs the guerrillas about the switch.»
Those who do not work in the mines are employed to load and transport the mined material or activities such as food preparation. «There is work for everyone here,» the anonymous source said.
Miners from far away
Lieutenant Colonel Cristian Unda, commander of the «Mayor Galo Molina» infantry battalion, told EFE that «the presence of illegal armed groups has not been detected on Ecuadorian territory.»
«What has been identified is that on the Colombian side, there are illegal plantations (of coca leaf, the raw material used to make cocaine) and illegal armed groups, so we are coordinating with the Colombian armed forces to prevent these threats from entering our territory,» he explained.
To prevent the arrival of these people, they recently destroyed two bridges that functioned as irregular border crossings, likely used for activities as they have information that in the area «there has been an increase in illegal arms trafficking, drug trafficking and illegal passage of mined material to be processed in Colombia.»
The destruction of these bridges provoked a massive protest by border communities on the Colombian side of the border, which led to the suspension of other irregular border crossings.
Lieutenant Colonel said that people from other provinces of Ecuador, as well as from Colombia and Venezuela, who «have experience in this illegal activity» have also arrived in El Chical, although he ruled out that the process is so far controlled by Ecuadorian criminals gangs that dominate illegal mines in other parts of the country.
The government of President Daniel Noboa has declared «war» against criminal groups involved in drug trafficking, extortion, and kidnapping because they are behind the escalation of violence that has made the country the leader in homicides in Latin America. EFE
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