Organized Theft Rings Target Gold Refineries Amid Surging Metal Prices

Gold's record-breaking run has attracted more than investors. A seven-page liaison information report issued on April 2 by the FBI's Criminal Division and Newark Field Office, prepared in coordination with the Jewelers' Security Alliance, warned industrial gold refineries and jewelry retailers across the United States that organized theft rings are actively circling their operations, with facilities in New York and New Jersey identified as primary targets.

The Jewelers' Security Alliance, whose executive vice president Scott Guginsky confirmed the organization frequently collaborates with the FBI on such specialized threat reports, distributed the document to its members on April 3. The alert centers on South American Theft Groups, known in law enforcement as SATGs, composed largely of foreign nationals from Chile and Venezuela who, the report states, "often have criminal records in multiple jurisdictions throughout the United States and other countries." The report is unambiguous about intent: "Crew members enter the United States with the sole purpose of committing financial property crimes and engage in highly organized jewelry thefts, fraud schemes, and burglaries."

The tactics are methodical. According to the report, SATG operatives conduct detailed surveillance inside and outside targeted businesses during regular operating hours, typically just days before a planned burglary. They favor striking on holidays or weekends, and late at night or in the early morning hours when facilities are unstaffed. Members frequently disguise themselves as construction workers and focus on businesses located in malls and shopping centers. Signal jammers are used to disable wireless security systems and evade real-time monitoring.

The FBI outlined specific pre-incident indicators that facility managers and store owners should watch for: individuals loitering near loading docks and parking areas who appear to be photographing or recording the building and its staff; people presenting themselves as construction workers without scheduled access; attempts to enter through doors, stairwells, or service corridors; and interior or exterior security cameras that appear to have been moved, blocked, or otherwise tampered with.

For those managing heirloom trade-ins, scrap gold programs, or refining partnerships, the alert carries a direct operational message. Refineries and transporters now sit at the sharpest point of risk in the precious metals supply chain, and the conditions that created that risk, sustained high gold prices, show no sign of reversing. Gold surged through the first quarter of 2026, drawing in both legitimate investors and, as this report makes clear, criminal networks with the organizational sophistication to exploit every gap in a facility's physical security before a single alarm sounds.

The convergence of elevated metal prices and increasingly coordinated criminal activity makes provenance and chain-of-custody documentation more important than ever for retailers who buy estate pieces or run scrap programs. A piece whose refining journey cannot be traced carries risk that extends well beyond the transaction itself.