Brazilian gold flows in a wide stream to China. Of course, illegally extracted

The Brazilian media announced on Tuesday that on August 4 this year, the Federal Road Police made the “greatest in history” confiscation of gold. In the state of Roraim, near the border with Venezuela, during routine road control, officers found 103 kg of ore hidden in a heavyweight.

A local entrepreneur sat behind the wheel of the car, who was driving with his wife, a known influencer. The police searched the vehicle because the driver had outdated car documents. Two days later, during the inspection of another vehicle on the road near the town of Altamira, a couple, over the Amazon, the police found a hidden package, in which there was 40 kg of gold.

According to the Brazilian federal police message, this year's gold confiscats of undocumented origin “have a record character”. In 2023, police in Brazil confiscated just over 23 kg of ore from an unknown source, in 2024 – over 48 kg. Gold comes from illegal mines, mainly in the Amazonian Virgin Forest.

Advertisement

Investigations conducted by the prosecutor's office are confirmed by – according to Brazilian media – that gold extracted in illegal mines usually goes to China. A few days ago at Guarulhos Airport in the financial capital of Brazil, Sao Paulo, and also the largest airport of Latin America, the police detained a woman who went to Hong Kong; In the suitcase it transported four kilograms of pure gold.

Last month, at the same airport, officers confiscated a package containing gold chains with a total weight of one and a half kg, which she tried to carry a passenger in the baggage going to China.

The Brazilian media emphasized that the phenomenon they called “Chinese gold fever” is not limited to Brazil, and according to the French Strategic Research Foundation, China has probably accumulated 10 percent of global gold reserves. “The strategic goal of the Beijing authorities is to achieve a greater impact on the international currency system, and thus reduce dependence on the American dollar,” wrote the influential Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo. (PAP)

Ik/ Piu/