Organised Crime Deepens Grip on Global Gold Supply Chain: UN

A sample of gold taken from a mine.

The global shift toward renewable energy technologies has led to a surge in demand for critical minerals, particularly gold—making the industry an increasingly attractive target for organised crime groups, according to a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Criminal networks are embedding themselves in gold supply chains worldwide, seeking control over extraction sites, trade routes, and refining infrastructure to exploit the sector’s high profit margins and the steady rise in gold prices. The UNODC report warns that these illegal activities pose a "serious global threat" as criminal syndicates evolve sophisticated tactics to hide their operations while profiting from the gold trade.

“These groups are not only adapting quickly to evade law enforcement, but are also deeply entrenched in legitimate businesses,” the report notes. This entanglement enables them to launder illicit earnings, smuggle illegally mined gold, and operate across borders with minimal resistance.

Leveraging modern transportation, financial systems, and communication technologies, organised crime is now able to integrate illegal gold into legitimate markets. The consequences are dire—fostering violence, corruption, environmental destruction, and widespread human rights abuses.

The UNODC highlights the severe impact on vulnerable populations, including increased risks of sexual exploitation, forced labour, and displacement in regions where these criminal networks operate. In many cases, communities are caught between the economic lure of illegal mining and the threats posed by armed groups and corrupt actors.

Unlike regulated mining operations that are subject to environmental and labour standards, illegal mining often operates in the shadows—clearing vast areas of forest, damaging fragile ecosystems, and accelerating biodiversity loss. Particularly alarming is the widespread use of hazardous substances such as mercury and cyanide, which are often banned but still utilised by illegal mining operations, contaminating rivers and soil, and endangering both wildlife and human health.

The report outlines the geography of this crisis: while most gold extraction takes place in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia, the majority of gold refineries are located in Europe, Asia, and North America. This transnational movement of gold—crossing multiple borders before refining—creates numerous opportunities for criminal infiltration, particularly in regions with weak regulatory oversight or inconsistent documentation practices.

Criminal organisations frequently exploit these gaps to launder illegally mined gold into the legal market, using a mix of fraudulent paperwork, shell companies, and complicit intermediaries.

Despite the scale of the challenge, the UNODC report offers a path forward. It calls for international cooperation and stricter regulatory oversight at key nodes of the supply chain—particularly at gold refineries, which serve as strategic chokepoints.

"Concentrating enforcement and regulatory measures at these critical hubs could significantly reduce the amount of illicit gold entering global markets," the report concludes.

The UN agency urges governments, law enforcement bodies, and the private sector to collaborate more closely to enhance traceability, tighten export controls, and implement robust due diligence mechanisms across the entire gold supply chain.

With gold continuing to serve as a cornerstone for financial systems, jewellery, and emerging green technologies, ensuring that its trade remains free from criminal influence is now a matter of urgent international concern.