Dirty Gold Lib/E: The Rise and Fall of an International Smuggling Ring

The explosive story of the illegal gold trade from South America, and the three Miami businessmen who got rich on itIn March of 2017, a team of FBI agents arrested Juan Granda, Samer Barrage, and Renato Rodriguez, or as they called themselves, "the three amigos." The trio--first identified publicly by the authors of this book-- had built a $3.6 billion dollar business in metals trading, mostly illegal Peruvian gold.Their arrests and subsequent prosecution laid bare more than a corrupt finance firm, though. Instead, Dirty Gold lifts the veil on an illegal international business that is five times as lucrative as trafficking cocaine, and arguably more dangerous.As the award-winning team of Miami Herald reporters show, illegal gold mines have become a haven for Latin American drug money. The gold is then sold to metals traders, and ultimately to Americans who want it in their jewelry, smartphones, and investment portfolios. By following the trail of these three traders, Dirty Gold leads us into a criminal underworld that has never before been in full view.

About the Author :
Jay Weaver has covered courts, government and politics for more than twenty-five years for the Herald. A graduate of UC Berkeley, he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News in 2001. He and Nicholas Nehamas were also 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalists for a series on international gold smuggling. Sarah Blaskey is an enterprise and local government reporter for the Miami Herald. She holds a Master's degree from Columbia University, where she worked prior to coming to the Herald as a post-Graduate investigative fellow uncovering an illicit trade of shark fins and humans in Central America. Caitlin Ostroff is a data reporter who used data analysis and computer coding to report investigative pieces for the Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Florida and is now with the Wall Street Journal. Nicholas Nehamas is an investigative reporter for the Miami Herald. He was part of a team that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting on the Panama Papers. Jay Weaver has covered courts, government and politics for more than 25 years for the Herald. A graduate of UC Berkeley, he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News in 2001. He and Nicholas Nehamas were also 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalists for a series on international gold smuggling. Gustavo Rex is an actor known for his narration of the video games Call of Duty: Black Ops and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. He has also narrated several audiobooks including Carlos Santana's memoir, El Tono Universal.

Review :

"A fascinating deep dive...an expose on South America's illicit gold trade, as an international cops and robbers caper, and as a rip-roaring tale of avarice that reads like an upscale version of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Amazing."

"[A] shocking true crime epic...show[s] how a criminal enterprise can thrive with a product where melting can erase all traces of origin easier than documents can be forged."

"A jaw-dropping true story."

"Tells the full story of how unethically mined gold makes it from shanty camps like La Pampa in southern Peru--a Stygian hellhole of brothels, child labor, and violence--through the global supply chain to become jewelry or part of the motherboard in your smartphone."