Cartel-backed mercury shipments for illicit gold mining are tainting Amazon rivers and endangering Indigenous communities from Peru to Brazil to Bolivia.
LatinAmerican Post staff reports.
In short:
- Artisanal and illegal miners release about 800 tons of mercury a year into the Amazon, where the metal turns into brain-damaging methylmercury that persists for generations.
- Investigators traced at least 180 tons of Mexican mercury moving along cocaine routes into Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia between 2019 and 2025, with the Sinaloa cartel using coca leaves to hide barrels.
- Hair tests in Brazilian and Peruvian villages exceed World Health Organization mercury limits, yet loopholes in the Minamata Convention let mercury slip past weak border checks and paper bans.
Key quote:
“We are changing culture to survive.”
— unnamed Asháninka leader, Peruvian Amazon
Why this matters:
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that readily converts to methylmercury, a form the body mistakes for nutrients and absorbs into brain tissue. Once released, it cycles through water, soil, and air, making fish the main exposure route for river communities that rely on daily catches for protein. Prenatal and early-childhood exposure can shrink brain volume, slow reflexes and permanently blunt memory, undermining school performance and future earnings. Adults face tremors and cardiovascular strain. Because the metal never degrades, every spill compounds the next, creating an expanding toxic reservoir that threatens biodiversity hotspots and the global food chain. As gold prices rise and enforcement lags, the health bill lands on families that rarely, if ever, see a coin of the profit.
Related: Amazon communities in Peru demand action as illegal gold mining contaminates rivers with mercury
