“They are coming to bomb!”, warns a male voice intercepted by a military radio, while dozens of soldiers advance in the Andean mountains of Ecuador where illegal gold mining is wreaking havoc.
A few hours later, an explosion rang out in a ravine. Then another detonation a little further away projects shards of metal. These explosions are part of an intervention by the Ecuadorian army to try to eradicate the illegal mining operations of criminal groups in the La Merced region of Buenos Aires, in the north of the country, near the border with Colombia.
In these operations, soldiers, with their faces covered “for security reasons”, patrol on foot, equipped with rifles, helmets and bulletproof vests. In other operations, the army went so far as to use armored tanks, rocket launchers and mortars to attack illegal mines in the affected regions.
More profitable than drug trafficking
This mountainous area “conceals great untapped riches,” underlines Colonel Christian Ruales, head of the operation. In 2019, security forces expelled some 3,000 miners from the mountains in one of Ecuador’s largest ever operations against illegal mining.
According to Colonel Ruales, the presence of soldiers is essential to stem illegal extraction. “Otherwise, things would start again,” he says.
“They’re coming to blow everything up,” the voice intercepted by the army crackles again, warning that the “greens” — the soldiers — are approaching. Despite the permanent military presence, gold extraction is running at full speed, the value of the precious metal having reached a record of nearly $5,600 per ounce in January.
According to the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mines, this illegal trade generates, in certain Latin American countries, even higher profits than drug trafficking. In Ecuador, between 60% and 70% of the gold mined is illegal, creating more than $1.6 billion per year.
“I see operations (military, editor’s note), but mining does not stop,” testifies Brian Proano, who worked for a few months in this illegal sector. “Mining will continue, because there is no work elsewhere,” believes the young man. This activity causes both environmental and social problems in La Merced de Buenos Aires.
One of the “most powerful criminal organizations”
AFP noted traces of chemicals, such as cyanide, released from a clandestine gold refining facility on the bank of a river, from which a viscous liquid emanating a strong smell of vinegar flowed.
The Oliver Sinisterra Front — a splinter group from the former Colombian Farc guerrilla group, now dissolved — is active in the region. Local gold mining has sparked a power struggle between this front and the Ecuadorian gang Los Lobos.
Linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Mexico and with thousands of members across the country, Los Lobos is one of the “most powerful criminal organizations” in Ecuador, according to Insight Crime. The gang engages in illegal extraction and has even taken over certain legal operations, specifies the NGO.
Criminal groups extort and intimidate miners but also the population, made up mainly of farmers. With the support of the United States, the government of right-wing President Daniel Noboa is trying to crack down on the gangs and cartels that are rampant throughout the South American country, once known for its tranquility. With few results. In 2025, the country recorded a homicide rate of 51 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in Latin America.
