U.S. Mint buys drug cartel gold and sells it as 'American'

By Justin Scheck, Simon Posada, and Federico Rios The New York Times Sunday, April 26, 2026 Every year the United States Mint sells more than $1 billion of investment-grade gold coins. Each is stamped with an icon like the bald eagle, signifying the government’s guarantee, required by law, that the gold is 100 percent American. "To hold a coin or medal produced by the Mint is to connect to the founding principles of our nation," the Mint declares. But a New York Times investigation has found that the government's program of gold sales is based on a lie. ... Dispatch continues below ... ... ADVERTISEMENT ... Buy, Sell, or Store Precious Metals with Money Metals Exchange Money Metals Exchange, a national bullion dealer recently named "Best Overall" by Investopedia.com -- https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2021/02/01/best-overall-precious-metals-dealer-002213 -- is a great low-cost source for precious metals coins, rounds, and bars. Money Metals also pays handsomely when you wish to sell your precious metals. Shop online with Money Metals Exchange here -- https://www.moneymetals.com/buy -- or by calling 1-800-800-1865. Meanwhile, Money Metals Depository will store your precious metals in a segregated account at low cost: https://www.moneymetals.com/depository The Mint is actually the last link in a chain that launders foreign gold, much of it illegally mined, for an insatiable market. The Mint buys gold that originates in a Colombian drug cartel mine. It makes Lady Liberty coins out of gold from Mexican and Peruvian pawn shops and from a Congolese mine that is part-owned by the Chinese government, records show. Some Mint gold has come from a company in Honduras that dug up an Indigenous graveyard for the ore underneath. Congress in 1985 prohibited the Mint from making bullion out of foreign gold because it wanted to insulate the process from human rights abuses, primarily in apartheid South Africa. The Mint has flouted that law, across Democratic and Republican administrations, despite internal warnings. ... ... For the remainder of the report: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/world/americas/us-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://www.amazon.com/Rigged-Exposing-Largest-Financial%20-History/dp/1651405204/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?keywords=rugged+stuart+englert&qid=1579708888&sr=8-2-fkmr1 * * * 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