Letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sounds alarm over taxpayer dollars funding drug cartels and terrorist groups in Colombia
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., today questioned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after it was revealed that the U.S. Mint has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to purchase gold from foreign mines controlled by cartels, terrorist groups, and other criminal syndicates.
Recent reporting by the New York Times exposed that for decades, the Mint has purchased illicit gold from foreign countries including Colombia, where many gold mines are controlled by terrorist groups, including some that are under U.S. sanctions, like the Clan del Golfo. Sales of illicit gold have become one of the largest sources of profit for terrorist groups and cartels, helping facilitate the production and trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States.
“The revenues from this illicit mining have funded Clan del Golfo cartel leaders’ drug trafficking, human rights abuses, vast environmental devastation and have directly undermined U.S. sanctions and national security policy,” the senators wrote. “The Treasury Department’s stunning failure to conduct supply chain due diligence for gold purchased by the Mint with taxpayer dollars has reportedly enriched foreign criminal organizations responsible for human rights atrocities, and the trafficking of drugs into the United States, and it must cease immediately..”
Last month, Wyden pressed Trafigura, a global commodities trader, over a massive gold deal brokered by the Trump administration involving the purchase of $100 million worth of gold from mines controlled by Venezuelan cartels.
Wyden and Warren requested a response to the following questions from Secretary Bessent by June 1, 2026:
- What steps has the Mint taken to address the recommendations made by Treasury OIG?
- In the Mint’s initial response to the Treasury OIG audit, the Mint noted that it would be publishing “the Mint’s procedures for acquiring newly mined U.S. gold and plans to prepare a notice for publication in the Federal Register within the next 90 days.” Please provide the date of this publication, or if publication did not happen, please explain why the notice has not been published.
- In the Mint’s initial response to the Treasury OIG audit, the Mint also committed to developing a legislative proposal within 180 days. Please provide a copy of this legislative proposal, or if it is not complete, a rationale for why the legislative proposal has not been developed.
- Are the reported purchases of gold from Colombian mines made by U.S. refiners being made in U.S. dollars or local currencies?
- If these purchases are being made in U.S. dollars, what steps are being taken to ensure that TCOs and other sanctioned actors are not gaining access to U.S. dollars?
- Has the Mint purchased gold mined in Venezuela?
- What coordination has the Mint undertaken with OFAC to prevent Mint payments from funding sanctioned individuals or entities?
- What is your plan to ensure gold used by the Mint is sourced from gold mined in the United States and not from foreign mining operations that support terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and environmental degradation?
The full letter can be found here.
A web version of this release is here.
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