The operations carried out as part of Operation Harpie to combat illegal gold panning in Guyana are not harmless insofar as certain “garimpeiros” [orpailleurs clandestins originaires du Brésil, ndlr] Don’t hesitate to shoot the French soldiers. And this was unfortunately the case again in an action against an illegal camp in the Dorlon sector. [région de Maripasoula].
In fact, on March 25, the Interior Ministry announced the death of a soldier from the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group Department [GIGN] from Cayenne. Chief Marshal Arnaud Blanc, 35, “came under fire on this mission”. The non-commissioned officer who had been deployed in Guyana since 2009 was the father of two children.
“Another everyday hero who has come to the end of his life. It’s terrible for everyone and we think a lot about his wife and his comrades,” said General Christian Rodriguez, director of the National Gendarmerie. [DGGN].
According to the France Guyane newspaper, the killings happened “at the end of the night,” during an “exchange of gunfire at the Dorlin compound in Maripasoula.” A key piece of equipment had been installed hours earlier by the national gendarmerie and armed forces in Guyana [FAG]. “The perpetrator or perpetrators of the shots are currently on the run,” he said.
Deep sadness at the announcement of this terrible news from French Guiana, which mourns our comrades #GIGN and the whole family #gendarmerie. In mainland France and overseas, we are all affected by this tragedy.#Support to his family, relatives and friends. #Protect you pic.twitter.com/1QT2mZa9I6
— Spokesman of the National Gendarmerie (@PorteparoleGN) March 25, 2023
The fight against illegal gold panning in Guyana is unending…despite the continued efforts of the FAG and the National Gendarmerie. Efforts that will make it possible, at best, to contain this phenomenon… In 2022, more than a thousand patrols were carried out by the military. 35.8 million criminal assets, 59 kg of mercury and 5 kg of gold were seized. That’s a tiny fraction of what the garimpeiros mine illegally every year. [les opérateurs miniers locaux parlent de 10 tonnes soustraites illégalement, ndlr]. They also captured 6236 carbets, 100 breakers, 143 canoes, 135 guns, 661 generators and 187 quads.
In addition to the environmental damage caused by the use of mercury and cyanide, illegal gold panning also has serious consequences for crime. [crimes de sang, prostitution, etc] and results in a significant deficit for local government in Guyana, estimated at 400 million euros per year.