Guyana Anti Corruption Network

Statement on Unauthorized Brazilian Aircraft Operations in Region 9: The Nexus of Illegal Mining, Drug Smuggling, and Sovereignty Erosion

The Guyana Anti-Corruption Network (GACN) expresses deep concern over the persistent and unchecked operation of Brazilian-registered helicopters and aircraft across Region 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). These incursions represent a serious breach of Guyana’s sovereignty and have created an enabling environment for transnational organized crime, particularly illegal gold mining in the Marudi Mountains and drug smuggling along the border corridor.

A Pattern of Illicit Activity

Recent incidents confirm that foreign aircraft are routinely operating in the Rupununi region with apparent impunity. In October 2024, a joint Police and CANU operation at Bashaizon Village uncovered a Brazilian-registered Islander aircraft (PU-MBN) parked at an illegal airstrip, actively engaged in a mercury-smuggling operation linked to gold mining. A Brazilian national was arrested, but the pilot escaped across the Takutu River into Brazil.

Even more troubling, a similar incident occurred in February 2023, when a Robinson 44 helicopter was discovered at an illegal mining site in the New River Triangle area. The Brazilian pilot and a miner were arrested, and authorities subsequently seized a shotgun, mining equipment, and multiple cellphones at the site.

Intelligence monitoring has identified the Marudi Mountains as a critical hotspot where these patterns converge. Despite being outside the legal mining district, the Marudi range has seen a surge of clandestine Brazilian garimpeiro operations, accessible only via illegal airstrips and helicopter landings. These same landing sites are increasingly being used as transshipment points for narcotics moving from Brazil into Guyana’s interior and onward to the coast. The symbiotic relationship is clear: illegal mining provides cover, cash flow, and logistical infrastructure—namely, airstrips and fuel caches—that drug trafficking organizations exploit to move cocaine and precursor chemicals across the porous border.

The Transparency Deficit

While the Guyana Defence Force has announced joint mirrored patrols with the Brazilian Army in the Takutu and Ireng sectors, and operations targeting illegal mining have resulted in the seizure and destruction of equipment, the public remains uninformed about the full scope of foreign aircraft operations in Region 9. Key questions remain unanswered:

· How many Brazilian aircraft currently operate within Guyana’s airspace, and how many of these have been linked to mining in the Marudi Mountains or to drug smuggling flights?
· What is the total number of illegal airstrips in Region 9, particularly in the Marudi and South Rupununi areas, and why have they not been systematically dismantled?
· What mechanisms exist to track and intercept unauthorized cross-border flights, especially those operating under the radar to evade detection?
· Why do perpetrators repeatedly escape across the Takutu River without facing consequences, and what cross-border intelligence-sharing protocols are in place to disrupt the drug-mining nexus?

Demands for Accountability

The Guyana Anti-Corruption Network calls upon the relevant authorities—including the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, the Guyana Defence Force, the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), and the Ministries of Home Affairs and Natural Resources—to:

1. Establish a public registry of all foreign aircraft authorized to operate in Guyana, particularly in border regions, and cross-reference this data with known illegal mining and trafficking zones.
2. Conduct and publish a comprehensive survey of illegal airstrips in Region 9, with clear timelines for their closure, prioritizing areas such as the Marudi Mountains where mining and drug activities overlap.
3. Strengthen cross-border coordination with Brazilian federal authorities to ensure that suspects fleeing into Brazil—whether involved in mining, narcotics, or both—are apprehended and prosecuted.
4. Enhance penalties for operators of illegal airstrips, unauthorized foreign aircraft, and those engaged in the interrelated crimes of environmental destruction and drug trafficking.

The continuous flying of Brazilian-registered aircraft over Region 9 is not merely a border security issue—it is a direct enabler of illegal gold mining in the Marudi Mountains and a logistical lifeline for drug smuggling networks. Until the state asserts effective control over its airspace and the illicit airstrips that dot the Rupununi, these criminal economies will continue to flourish at the expense of Guyana’s sovereignty, environment, and rule of law.

The Network will continue to monitor this situation and calls on all citizens with information regarding unauthorized aircraft operations, illegal mining in the Marudi Mountains, or suspected drug smuggling activity in Region 9 to report such matters to the relevant authorities and to civil society oversight bodies.

Issued by:
Guyana Anti-Corruption Network
March 29, 2026