U.S. and Canadian mints bought gold traced to Colombian cartel supply chain

The United States Mint sells more than $1 billion in investment-grade gold coins every year, and its American Gold Eagles are required by law to use 100% American gold. But investigators traced some of that metal back to mines in Colombia controlled by the Clan del Golfo cartel, showing how foreign gold can move through paperwork and intermediaries and still enter a government-backed supply chain.

The path matters because the Mint is supposed to sit at the clean end of the market, not the laundering end. The reporting found that the Mint was the last link in a chain that turned foreign, often illegally mined gold into material that appeared legitimate on export documents. Congress barred the Mint from using foreign gold for the program in 1985, yet the investigation showed that some of the metal still passed through channels that obscured its origin before it reached the Mint’s suppliers.

The same scrutiny reached north of the border. A follow-up investigation traced some of the Royal Canadian Mint’s gold back to the same Colombian supply chain. Royal Canadian Mint spokesperson Deneen Perrin said the mint “immediately and fully” suspended refining any material from the supply chain in question after learning of the allegations and began a full review. The Canadian mint said the material was part of a mixed supply chain, and mixed material accounted for 5% of the more than five million ounces of rough gold it refined last year.

The political response was swift. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ordered a review of the Mint’s procurement practices after the findings, while companies in the chain said they had stopped accepting Colombian gold. The trade numbers underscore the scale of the problem: roughly $1.5 billion of Colombia’s $4.1 billion in gold exports in 2024 went to the United States.

The episode exposes a deeper weakness in how governments define and police ethical sourcing. The gold in question did not arrive with cartel labels attached. It moved through intermediaries, acquired clean-looking paperwork, and reached institutions that sell trust as much as bullion. For both Washington and Ottawa, the case shows that even government-linked procurement is only as reliable as the chain of custody behind it.