Interpol’s coordinated strike targets illicit mining networks in West Africa
Interpol has announced the success of a large-scale operation aimed at rooting out illegal mining across several West African nations. During the coordinated raids in Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal, law enforcement officials arrested 200 suspects and confiscated a range of harmful chemicals, explosives, and narcotics.
According to Interpol, the operation—carried out between July and October 2024 with support from the U.K. Home Office—revealed sophisticated criminal structures behind unauthorized gold mining, an activity that causes extensive environmental degradation and poses significant public health risks.
Of particular concern is the use of toxic substances such as mercury and cyanide in unregulated small-scale mining. In addition to potentially contaminating land and water, these chemicals can inflict severe, sometimes irreversible, harm on miners. Authorities discovered substantial quantities of painkillers on-site, which officials believe are used to mitigate the harsh effects of toxic exposures.
Valdecy Urquiza, Interpol’s secretary general, praised the operation’s collaborative nature, emphasizing the importance of international teamwork in confronting multifaceted criminal enterprises.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, a separate rescue effort is in progress at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine near Stilfontein, where hundreds of informal miners remain trapped in an abandoned shaft. Officials report that 24 bodies have been retrieved, along with 34 survivors, leaving an estimated 500 more individuals in precarious conditions underground. This situation spotlights the broader crisis of illegal mining in South Africa, where companies often abandon unprofitable mines, prompting informal operators to extract any remaining deposits illegally.
Operation Sanu, Interpol’s West African initiative, also represented a pioneering effort to curb unlawful sand mining in Gambia, resulting in seven arrests and the seizure of both machinery and heavily loaded trucks. Officials warn that sand mining devastates local ecosystems, worsens coastal erosion, and undermines livelihoods.
