Royal Canadian Mint says its gold is traceable and clean, but it comes from a Colombian drug gang

Royal Canadian Mint says its gold is traceable and clean, but it comes from a Colombian drug cartel By Justin Scheck The New York Times Monday, April 27, 2026 In the shadowy global gold industry, where terrorists, drug dealers, and dictators launder illegally mined gold into the mainstream market, one major supplier says buyers can count on its product to be clean and ethically sourced. The Royal Canadian Mint says it can trace all of its gold back to its origins, with cutting-edge technologies including a Bitcoin-like software it calls Bullion Genesis. The Mint, which is backed by the Canadian government, assures buyers that it does not refine gold linked to "illegitimate nonstate armed groups." ... Dispatch continues below ... ... ADVERTISEMENT ... Buy metals at GoldMoney and enjoy international storage GoldMoney was established in 2001 by James and Geoff Turk and is safeguarding more than $1.7 billion in metals and currencies. Buy gold, silver, platinum, and palladium from GoldMoney over the Internet and store them in vaults in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, taking advantage of GoldMoney's low storage rates, among the most competitive in the industry. GoldMoney also offers delivery of 100-gram and 1-kilogram gold bars and 1-kilogram silver bars. To learn more, please visit:  http://www.goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=gata "It's all North American, predominantly Canada," the Mint's refining chief, Rob Sargent, said in an interview. But what the Canadians call North American includes gold from a swirl of faraway sources -- including Colombian mines controlled by the Clan del Golfo drug cartel. A New York Times investigation recently showed that Canada's counterpart in Washington, the United States Mint, has been buying gold that originated in a cartel mine. But unlike the Americans, who have gone decades without tracking their gold supplies, the Canadians have known that they were getting it from a country where cocaine trafficking, paramilitary violence, and the gold trade are intertwined. Yet they continued to call it North American gold. They did so, officials explained, because before the Colombian gold arrives in Canada, a Texas intermediary mixes it with American gold. In the Mint's eyes, the resulting mix is entirely North American. This fiction, and the fact that perpetuating it is completely legal, is an example of how even the world's most credible dealers allow tainted gold into the mainstream market. ... ... For the remainder of the report: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/world/canada/royal-canadian-mint-gold-drug-cartel-colombia.html * * * Support GATA by purchasing Stuart Englert's "Rigged" "Rigged" is a concise explanation of government's currency market rigging policy and extensively credits GATA's work exposing it. Ten percent of sales proceeds are contributed to GATA. Buy a copy for $14.99 through Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/3xt6uw66 * * * Help keep GATA going: GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: http://www.gata.org To contribute to GATA, please visit: http://www.gata.org/node/16 Donations of $500 or more will entitle the donor to a 1-ounce silver round commemorating GATA's work: https://www.gata.org/sites/default/files/GATA-silver-round-front.png