The worst bad guys narcotraffickers, right-wing paramilitary militias, left-wing insurgents, etc are now into gold mining. Can a war on gold can't be far behind? "Gold has emerged as one of the best options to store value and even generate returns on investments in an era marked by a loose monetary policy in the developed world and a loss of faith in fiat currencies like the US dollar." The full article lists the many evils associated with illegal gold mining.
Just goes to show how common gold is and how much of it is out there. I doubt the drug cartels care about gold though, they will still prefer UD dollars. There is no loss of faith in UD currency, all that is pumper talk and trying to make gullible people believe. Look at Stawell gold mine in vic, mined 32,000 ounces this year but closing down as there isn't enough gold to make it economical.
If your talking street level dealers buying from low end suppliers for tens of thousands yeah potentially, but Not easily done when you're talking in millions at mid level and tens or hundreds of millions at wholesale, gold would be a big hassle.
I've never smuggled drug money but I think two duffel bags full of money would be harder to transport than a kilo sized gold bar.
Either way it still would be very very dangerous with cave in's let alone hyped up kooks wired on drugs with an AK47 being waved around the place all to put a meal on the table for your family,I am mainly talking about the diggers themselves. A not so - Merry Christ - mas
A kilo of gold is roughly $40K USD but two duffel bags in $100 bills would be about $10 million. You still think it's easier?
http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/us_debt/us_debt.html (3rd image) It would be a lot easier to send a dozen indigenous farmers across a border on foot than 10mil worth of cash through an air port.
