🇻🇪🇺🇸⚡️ — Hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Venezuelan gold imported into the U.S. under a Trump administration-backed arrangement is sitting in storage because refiners are reluctant to process it over concerns about links to organized crime, corruption, and environmental damage, according to NYT.

The arrangement was launched after the removal of Nicolás Maduro, with commodities trader Trafigura partnering with Venezuela’s state-owned miner Minerven to purchase and export gold to the US.

The first shipment, worth about $100 million, arrived in March, with ten gold bars even brought to the White House during a meeting attended by President Trump and Trafigura CEO Richard Holtum.

NYT found that some gold entering Minerven’s supply chain may originate from miners who pay protection money to the Tren de Guayana gang. One mining brigade leader said around 20% of his team’s gold goes to the gang under a system locally known as “el sistema,” while another portion is delivered to Minerven and mixed with gold destined for Trafigura.

Trafigura says its due diligence remains ongoing and that an auditor has found no evidence of “human rights violations, conflict financing, illegal taxation, extortion, or involvement of illegal actors” at the sites inspected.

The White House similarly argues that the initiative is helping “clean up Venezuela’s mining industry” by bringing Western companies into the sector.