Peruvian customs officials have seized a record-breaking shipment of illegal mercury, exposing a cross-border smuggling network that is fueling one of the Amazon’s most destructive criminal economies: illicit gold mining.
The 4-ton haul — the largest mercury seizure ever made in an Amazon country and one of the world's largest — was discovered in June at the port of Callao, hidden inside gravel-filled bags on a cargo ship bound for Bolivia. Though labeled as crushed stone, the shipment was flagged by customs agents based on international intelligence sharing.
