U.S. flagged Mohameds, others for gold smuggling during APNU+AFC government – former minister

Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 October 2025, 19:01 by Writer

Former Natural Resources minister, Raphael Trotman has said the United States (U.S.) Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had shared information about gold smuggling with the previous A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) political administration.

While former chairman of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB), Gabriel Lall said a dossier provided by the U.S. Embassy did not include the names of then gold exporters Azruddin Mohamed and his father Nazar “Shell” Mohamed as suspected gold smugglers, Mr Trotman said they were included. “A number of gold dealers were on the list, including the Mohameds, but the focus did not appear to be the Mohameds. At least, not at that time,” Mr Trotman told Demerara Waves Online News.

The former Natural Resources minister said, too, that he did not recall receiving a document containing the names of suspected gold smugglers that originated from the U.S. Embassy’s Regional Security Officer. “I don’t have any recollection of receiving any documents from GHK (Gabriel H. K. Lall), but know for sure that (then Public Security minister) Khemraj (Ramjattan) and I were given dossiers by the FBI,” he said.

Giving his full backing to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo’s call for a “full and thorough investigation” into gold smuggling, the former Natural Resources minister also stated categorically that “I did receive briefings from the FBI and other U.S. federal officials on ‘Operation Gold-Digger’ and was also aware of ‘Operation Nimble Mule’, which was a locally driven operation that ran parallel to ‘Gold-Digger’.

Mr Trotman added that both himself and Mr Ramjattan were briefed but not asked to take action by the U.S. He said nothing was raised about the laws of Guyana, and himself and his ministerial colleague were brought “up to speed” on the ongoing investigations that had stretched to a number of identified persons in Florida, New York and New Jersey.

He said the U.S. seemed more concerned that gold earnings were being used to violate its national interest. “In truth, the concern was that the proceeds of Guyana’s gold were being used by “enemies” of the U.S. The U.S. seemed interested in tracing the gold and its proceeds after landing in the U.S. There was nothing raised about violations of Guyana laws,” he said.

He said the U.S. briefings were of a “very confidential nature, and we were asked to keep them that way, and no particular requests were made of us.”

Reiterating that U.S. officials indicated that they felt comfortable in sharing intelligence, he said to the best of his knowledge, all of Guyana’s relevant security agencies cooperated. He pointed to an increase in annual gold declarations from 2015 to 2020 as testament to the APNU+AFC’s “proven efforts to confront the perennial issue of gold smuggling.” “The list of gold dealers was just about 6 or 7 when I was minister. It meant that all dealers were brought under the microscope,” he added.

The GGB had in 2014 reported that 387,000 ounces of gold was declared, but by 2015 the figure grew to 451,490 ounces. In 2016, declarations further grew to 713,000 ounces, 652,000 ounces in 2017, 616,223 ounces in 2018, 634,905 in 2019 but declined in 2020 by 7.8% to 585,433 ounces. In 2021, there was a further drop to 499,054 ounces; 486,415 ounces in 2022, 432,113 ounces in 2023 and 434,067 in 2024.

Other factors that influence declaration are weather conditions, incentives or higher taxes and the international price of gold which closed on Tuesday on the London Fix at US$4,169.60 per ounce. In 2021, the price of gold did not reach US$2,000 per ounce but gradually began climbing to US$2,000 and above in December 2023.

He said ‘Operation Gold Digger’ was out of the Guyana government’s control and he was unaware if anyone was charged. As for the Guyana operation, Mr Trotman said that was not led by the Ministry of Natural Resources or Ministry of Public Security, but directed by the Ministry of the Presidency and worked with the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) that was disbanded by the People’s Progressive Party Civic when it returned to office in 2020. He also said he was not aware of any charges or convictions under ‘Operation Nimble Mule’.

Vice President Jagdeo last week publicly instructed the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Police Force to commence investigations into the alleged involvement of government officials in gold smuggling allegedly by the Mohameds. The GGB’s former chairman on Tuesday expressed concern that he was being singled out in public utterances and called on the government to call in the FBI to assist with the probe.

In announcing that the Mohameds were sanctioned for allegedly evading more than US$50 million in taxes payable to the government on the export of more than 10,000 kilogrammes of gold, the United States’ Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had alleged that Mohamed’s Enterprise had bribed customs officials to falsify import and export documents, as well as to facilitate illicit gold shipments.

OFAC further alleged that Mohamed’s Enterprise had paid bribes to Guyanese government officials to ensure the undisrupted flow of inbound and outbound personnel that move currency and other items on behalf of Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise.

The U.S. government also accused Mohamed’s Enterprise of paying bribes to corrupt Guyanese government officials to facilitate the award of government contracts.

No government official has so far been charged with any offence linked to the accusations against the Mohameds.

Except for charges of making a false customs declaration and evasion of taxes, so far the Mohameds have not been charged locally with any criminal offence. They were, however, indicted by a U.S. grand jury on 11 counts of fraud and money laundering linked to gold shipments and the purchase of a Lamborghini luxury car.

More than 20 years ago, a regional airline pilot had been caught smuggling gold through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport by abusing his privilege. Several years later, a large quantity of gold that originated from Guyana was stolen from a vessel in Curacao.