Guyana Anti Corruption Network

EXCLUSIVE: Convicted Amazon Crime Boss Finds Sanctuary in Guyana—Photographed With Top Ministers as International Manhunt Intensifies

By Guyana Anti Corruption Network Investigative Team
March 5, 2026

New photographs obtained by this publication confirm that Rodrigo Martins de Mello—the Brazilian mining boss sentenced to over 22 years in prison for leading a criminal organization that devastated the Yanomami Indigenous Territory ¹—has been meeting with senior Guyanese government officials, including Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat and Prime Minister Mark Phillips.

The images, captured inside the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Office of the Prime Minister in Georgetown, raise urgent questions for international law enforcement agencies monitoring the rapid infiltration of transnational criminal networks into Guyana’s gold sector. They come just weeks after INTERPOL’s landmark Operation Guyana Shield exposed the scale of illegal mining and money laundering across the Brazil-Guyana border ².

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The Convicted Felon at the Cabinet Table

On January 28, 2026, Brazilian Federal Judge Victor Oliveira de Queiroz handed down one of the harshest sentences in Amazon environmental crime history. Rodrigo Martins de Mello, known throughout Brazil as “Rodrigo Cataratas,” was convicted of:

· Leading a criminal organization engaged in illegal mining
· Money laundering through a network of companies and aircraft
· Usurpation of Union minerals (illegal mining on protected land)
· Environmental crimes causing catastrophic damage ¹

The court found that Cataratas commanded a sophisticated operation using at least 23 aircraft to transport miners, fuel, equipment, and illegally extracted gold from the Yanomami Indigenous Territory—a protected area the size of Portugal ¹. The sentence: 22 years and 7 months in closed regime, plus R$31.7 million (approximately US$5.7 million) in collective moral damages to the Yanomami people ¹.

Yet today, Cataratas is not in a Brazilian prison cell. According to court documents cited in the conviction, he is “currently a mining businessman in Guyana” ¹. And photographic evidence now confirms he has walked the corridors of Guyana’s most powerful ministries.

The Family Enterprise: Son Arrested for Aiding Fugitive

The criminal network extends directly into the highest-profile political fugitive case currently before U.S. authorities.

Celso Rodrigo Martins de Mello, Cataratas’s son, was also convicted in the January 28 ruling, receiving a sentence of over 10 years for serving as his father’s “right-hand man” in the illegal mining enterprise ¹. But Celso faces additional scrutiny: Brazilian Federal Police confirmed in December 2025 that he was arrested for allegedly assisting Alexandre Ramagem’s escape from Brazil ³.

Ramagem—the former head of Brazil’s intelligence agency (Abin) under President Jair Bolsonaro—was convicted of leading a coup plot and sentenced to 16 years in prison ⁴. He fled Brazil in September 2025 via a clandestine crossing into Guyana, reportedly using a diplomatic passport to board a flight from Georgetown to Miami ⁵. The Brazilian government has formally requested his extradition from the United States ⁶.

The connection is now undeniable: the same family convicted of running one of the Amazon’s largest illegal mining operations allegedly facilitated the escape of a convicted coup plotter through Guyanese territory. And the patriarch of that family is now photographed with Guyana’s Cabinet ministers.

INTERPOL’s Warning: Guyana as the Epicenter

International law enforcement has already flagged the region as a critical hotspot. Operation Guyana Shield, conducted in December 2025 with support from INTERPOL and the European Union’s EL PACCTO 2.0 program, resulted in nearly 200 arrests across Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname ².

In Guyana alone, authorities detained three men with unprocessed gold and US$590,000 in cash—suspected members of a major organized crime group with alleged links to a leading Guyanese gold-exporting firm ². Investigators also seized mercury cylinders valued at over US$60,000, often concealed in solar panels and transported by bus into mining areas ².

INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza issued a stark warning: “The surge in international gold prices in recent years has resulted in increased illegal gold mining, making it the fastest-growing revenue stream for organized crime groups in Latin America” ².

The Bolsonaro Nexus: Money Laundering Through Gold

The Cataratas-Ramagem connection is not an isolated case but part of a broader pattern documented by investigative journalists. Associates of former President Jair Bolsonaro are actively establishing operations in Guyana’s gold sector, using it as a vehicle for money laundering ⁷.

These include figures like Glaidson Acácio dos Santos (“Faraone dos Bitcoins”), imprisoned in Brazil for leading a R$38 billion (US$7 billion) financial pyramid scheme, whose wife has been living in Guyana and operating through gold-buying companies ⁷. The network reportedly uses a web of firms to purchase gold from small-scale miners, which is then exported to international refineries—effectively laundering dirty money into the legitimate global supply chain ⁷.

Questions for International Law Enforcement

For agencies tracking transnational organized crime—including INTERPOL, the U.S. Department of Justice, Brazil’s Federal Police, and financial intelligence units worldwide—the following questions demand answers:

On the Meetings:

· What official business warranted meetings between a convicted Brazilian felon and Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources and Prime Minister?
· Were any mining permits, licenses, or investment approvals discussed or granted during or following these meetings?
· Does Guyana maintain any background check or due diligence process for foreign investors granted access to senior officials?

On the Criminal Enterprise:

· Given Cataratas’s conviction for money laundering through aircraft and shell companies, have any of his known assets or business entities been flagged in Guyana’s financial system?
· What is the current status of INTERPOL diffusion notices or Red Notices for Cataratas, his son Celso, or associated network members?
· Are Brazilian authorities aware of Cataratas’s precise location and activities in Guyana, and have mutual legal assistance requests been submitted?

On the Ramagem Escape:

· How did a convicted coup plotter transit through Guyana with apparent ease, using a diplomatic passport that should have been invalid?
· What investigations, if any, have Guyanese authorities conducted into the facilitation network that enabled Ramagem’s passage?
· Given that Celso Martins de Mello has been arrested for allegedly assisting the escape, does his father’s presence in Guyana warrant immediate questioning?

On Systemic Vulnerabilities:

· Does Guyana’s gold export regime include beneficial ownership disclosure requirements sufficient to identify money laundering risks?
· How many Brazilian nationals with known criminal histories or pending charges are currently operating in Guyana’s mining sector?
· What coordination exists between Guyana’s Financial Intelligence Unit and its Brazilian counterpart regarding suspicious transactions linked to gold exports?

The Human Toll

While international attention focuses on the political and financial dimensions, the Yanomami people continue to bear the cost. Illegal mining in their territory caused a 330% increase in deaths from malnutrition, primarily among Indigenous children ⁸. A 2023 health survey found that nearly 70% of Yanomami people have mercury contamination in their bodies—a toxic legacy of gold extraction ⁹.

“Justice must hold people accountable for the impacts and for the deaths of the Yanomami people, because we did nothing wrong,” Waihiri Hekurari Yanomami, president of the Urihi Yanomami Association, told Mongabay. “They are the ones who came and poisoned the children and the rivers” ¹⁰.

The presence of the man convicted of orchestrating that devastation—now photographed in Guyana’s seat of government—represents not just a failure of justice but an active threat to the rule of law in the region.

Call to Action

International law enforcement agencies possess the tools to disrupt these networks: Red Notices, mutual legal assistance treaties, financial intelligence sharing, and targeted sanctions. The evidence now on the public record—judicial convictions, photographic documentation, investigative reporting—provides ample basis for immediate action.

We call upon:

· INTERPOL to verify the current status of any notices involving Rodrigo Martins de Mello and his family members, and to coordinate with Brazilian and Guyanese authorities on locating and apprehending convicted criminals operating across borders
· U.S. Department of Justice to consider whether the presence of convicted money launderers in Guyana’s gold sector implicates U.S. anti-money laundering statutes, particularly regarding gold exported to U.S. refineries
· Brazil’s Federal Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office to intensify cooperation with Guyana on locating Cataratas and investigating whether his Guyana operations constitute continued criminal activity
· Guyana’s Financial Intelligence Unit and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to conduct immediate audits of any permits, exports, or financial transactions linked to individuals connected to the Cataratas network

The photographs of Minister Bharrat and Prime Minister Phillips with a convicted criminal are not merely embarrassing optics. They are evidence of state capture by transnational organized crime—and a test of whether international law enforcement will treat Guyana as a jurisdiction where justice still applies.

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References

1. Federal Court of Roraima, Brazil. Criminal Conviction of Rodrigo Martins de Mello (Rodrigo Cataratas). Case No. XXXXXX-XX.2022.4.01.4200. January 28, 2026.
2. INTERPOL. Operation Guyana Shield: Final Report. December 2025. / EL PACCTO 2.0 Program. Cross-Border Operation Results Summary. December 2025.
3. Brazilian Federal Police. Arrest Warrant and Investigation Report: Celso Rodrigo Martins de Mello. December 2025.
4. Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF). Conviction of Alexandre Ramagem. First Chamber. Case No. AP 1044. September 2025.
5. Brazilian Federal Police. Escape Investigation: Alexandre Ramagem. September 2025.
6. Embassy of Brazil in Washington, D.C. Formal Extradition Request for Alexandre Ramagem to U.S. Department of State. December 30, 2025.
7. Guyana Integrity. “Jair Bolsonaro’s Criminal Network Has Infiltrated Guyana’s Government and Gold Industry.” February 26, 2026. https://guyanaintegrity.com/2026/02/26/jair-bolsonaros-criminal-network-has-infiltrated-guyanas-government-and-gold-industry/
8. Brazil Ministry of Health. DSEI Yanomami Health Report: Mortality Indicators 2019-2023. 2024.
9. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) / Brazil National Health Surveillance Agency. Mercury Contamination Study in Yanomami Indigenous Territory. 2023.
10. Mongabay. “Yanomami leader: ‘Justice must hold people accountable for the deaths of our people’.” Interview with Waihiri Hekurari Yanomami. March 2024.