Colombia’s tax and customs agency DIAN seized $387,387 worth of illegal gold on a foreign flagged ship in the Caribbean port of Cartagena.
The Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining determined that the 235 bars of gold each weighed 31.1 grams and were 99.9% pure.
According to the DIAN press release, the catch was part of DIAN’s “National Plan of Territorial Consolidation,” the organization’s strategy “to combat the illegal exploitation of natural and nonrenewable resources, especially the exploitation of mining, which has negatively impacted many areas of the country.”
Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS made the gold available to DIAN.
The government has been cracking down on illegal gold mining in Colombia, which it believes helps to fund the armed conflict. Nineteen alleged illegal gold miners were arrested Tuesday in the neighboring department of Magdalena.