Overview
- The Sexto Despacho of Peru’s specialized anti–money laundering prosecutor’s office confiscated the ingot in Puno on March 17 after determining it came from illegal mining and was slated for export to India.
- The bar, valued at more than $600,000, was placed under the National Program of Seized Assets (Pronabi) and secured in a Banco de la Nación vault.
- Provincial prosecutor Pablo César Espinoza Vásquez and deputy prosecutor Angélica Yovana Ortiz Loa are leading an investigation into Maritza Tapara, Nadya Soncco and the company Esfamin E. I. R. L. for suspected money laundering.
- Police from the Dirección de Investigación de Lavado de Activos (DIRILA) provided operational support for the seizure and transport of the evidence.
- Coverage situates the case within wider flows of illegal Amazon-basin gold to overseas buyers, with India and the United Arab Emirates cited as principal destinations.