Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Armed robbers steal $8.5 million in gold from Mexican

Borderland Beat posted by DD with material from National Post

DD:  While many of the individuals that we see in the news reports of their arrest appear to be stupid, as business entities the cartels in general are far from being stupid.  

When FBI agents asked 1930's gangster Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he replied "Because that is where the money is".

 While cartels have been stealing iron ore (or entire mines) and oil and gas from pipelines for a long time stealing gold from a gold mining company is much easier and more profitable.  It takes a hell of a lot of big trucks and tankers to haul enough iron ore or oil to add up to $8,500,000, which is what this latest heist from a Canadian gold mining company yielded.   Willie Sutton didn't rob homes or gas stations or church collection plates, he robbed banks "because there is where the money is" - meaning a lot of it and concentrated in one small place.  

If you asked the thieves in this case why they robbed the gold mining company, they might have looked at you as if you were crazy for asking and answered the same as Willie Sutton did "its where the money is".

The gold was in the form of gold bearing concentrate weighing about 900 (approx. 2000 lbs) kilograms that contained about 7000 ounces of gold.and could be transported in a  pickup.
.

McEwen Mining Inc. says the theft occurred Tuesday at it's refinery at the El Gallo 1 mine in Western Sinaloa state. While McEwen is insured, its policy won’t be enough to cover the entire expected loss.
“The crime is being vigorously investigated by the Mexican authorities,” the company’s statement read.
No one was injured and mining operations were not affected, McEwan Mining said. But the statement did not provide any more details about the robbery.

The Toronto-based company has operations in Mexico, Nevada and Argentina.

As we have reported on Borderland Beat, this isn’t the first violent incident affecting Canadian mining companies in Mexico this year. Last month, four Goldcorp Inc. workers in the troubled Guerrero state went missing in an apparent kidnapping, while contractors and an employee of Torex Gold Resources in the same region were kidnapped in February.

Karma

There are many people that live in the areas that are being mined (and that is a good part of central and southern Mexico) are probably laughing at the loss of the 8 1/2 million dollars by the Gold Mining Company.  They feel like the government and the mining companies have stolen the land the land they are mining.


 In Mexico, underground mineral deposits are considered property of the federal government, and their authority to grant mining concessions supersedes, in theory, the rights of those who possess private and communal property on the surface.  For decades the residents of the areas that are being mined have fought the government opposing the mining concessions on their land.  A provision in the constitution complicates the issue of the government issuing concessions to whoever and where ever they want.

The constitution recognizes  Indigenous peoples descended from populations which inhabited the country before the formation of the state. As such, their law is above the State.  Though the Indigenous population has been the best organized opposition to mining concessions, other residents have joined their protests against mining because they claim it pollutes their water supply and degrades the surface in such a way that it will never be usable.

The locals are almost never consulted prior to the issuance of a concession.  The mining companies are sometimes so confident they could get a concession from the government that they don't even bother to do it.  The rights of the locals, mostly poor and uneducated have been ignored for long they don't bother consulting with them or carry out a environmental  impact study.  They just show up and start mining.

 But crazy things do happen.  Sometimes the good guys (the people) win a battle.  As reported in Mex Files
story :

If you pick it up, put it back…

Ejido El Bajio, in Caborca, Sonora, was robbed!


For several years, the ejido has “hosted” (in the sense of being the source of sustenance for a parasite) a Minera Penmont operation which somehow “neglected” to ever get permission to mine.

The ejidarios sued in Agrarian courts in 2010, and — in a partial victory — won their suit in June 2014, which only called for the restoration of damages between the commencement of the suit and the court ruling.
gold
However, the court (Tribunal Unitario Agrario, Distrito 28) issued an injunction (amparo) on restitution, under the argument that the company needed to assess the mine, and recover their own equipment.  Although the injunction was lifted on December, to date, the company has yet to publish the ruling … mostly because of the likely impact on its stock prices.

And, apparently, is still mining.

And, the Ejido El Bajio is waiting for not just land reclamation… the company owes them nine tons of gold and four tons of silver… though the Ejido will probably take a check made out for $350,000,000 (US)… as long as its good..

21 comments:

  1. Quien roba a ladrón tiene 100 años de perdón!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Better than Gold Rush

    ReplyDelete
  3. Someone saw heat and got inspired! This was a good score for whomever did it. And to the rest of you wanksters in Mexico learn from this. You don't have to take from the Mexican people to make money. There are plenty ways to make money other than to kidnap and extort decent people. Oh yeah this is for all broke ass criminals that are so stupid that can not make money from the drug business.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I highly doubt they saw heat and got inspired. Lol I think the thought of payback and millions was the real inspiration.

      Delete
    2. Payback for what genius?

      Delete
    3. Payback, stealing from the company, because of real or perceived wrongs, or just for the hell of it, kicking the boss'uns in the ass...
      I hope miners keep this up, really. ..

      Delete
  4. Good ol full on American gangsters that's what I'm talking about where secrecy reins.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Watch out for the sinaloan gangsters this has been going on for a while the mining companys want to stay there it's going to keep happening just like back in those old west Times These sinaloans know where the money is.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, in the last few days some wise ass has been posting comments about some carretero finding "gold" mining opportunities, the only one that comes to mind is carretero durango mazatlan, which is real close to that stolen gold...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Boy is this going to piss off EPN.Hes trying to get foreign investment.Cant keep those narcos under control.Maybe it was a bad idea in the 70s and 80s to be in cahoots with the BIG cartel because now all the little politicians[municipals] want a cut of the action with the little cartels and gangs and its so out of hand now.Where does it end?Theres no 1 to cut the cycle off.Where does it start?Country is out of control.The can of worms was opened many years ago now the worms are infested everywhere.Its an epidemic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You believe it was the cartel that did it?

      Delete
    2. Cars. Toyota and BMW two of the latest. And many small support manufacturers. Audi moved its SUV production from Germany to Mexico, after deciding the US was not a good place to build (Canada wasn't in the running). Forty percent of all automobile jobs are in Mexico and the new plants are being built in Mexico. Canada and the US are losing plants and not getting new ones. It has not gone unnoticed, either. Worth reading:

      http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2014/08/20/americas-car-capital-will-soon-be-mexico/

      Of course, it has nothing to do with EPN, though he would like people to think otherwise.

      Delete
    3. Blame 2pac, and his dick...
      That looks like first class mexican engjneering... keep up the good work!!!

      Delete
    4. One fucking pick-up load stolen...
      -How do you think all the governmen nationalized paraestatales got stolen from the mexican people?
      -That includes mining, stealing all the production, like milking pemex...
      Only difference is greediest bigger bandits vs smaller madafakers...

      Delete
  8. Oceans 11 all over again!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fourth largest gold heist in history: 1. Heathrow 1983 (three tons). 2. Kerry Packer Sydney 1995 (285 kilos). 3. "Summer Bliss" Curacao 2012 (216 kilos) 4. El Gallo 1 Mine MX 2015 (198 kilos). Pretty good company!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Stupid gangsters forgot to shoot their way out of there and kill the executives in self defense.
    That is why you hire private security, because if you don't, you still pay to them...

    ReplyDelete
  11. It was carlos slim that stole all that gold, his greed was too much to control when he heard of all that gold lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder, who owns el Palacio de Mineria en el DF now?
      Carlos slim helu IS in on mining, and I suspect he is working on nuclear power too...

      Delete
  12. The Mexican Government took it with help from the American's

    ReplyDelete
  13. Since the day the Spanish set foot in Mexico foreigners have been stealing precious metals from Mexico. This thievery has helped finance projects outside of Mexico and help build infrastructure of many sorts in Europe and help pay down debt. I hate to see it but it's nice to see some gold stay where it belongs.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.
Envía fotos, vídeos, notas, enlaces o información
Todo 100% Anónimo;

borderlandbeat@gmail.com