French special forces stormed illegal gold mining sites deep in the jungle of French Guiana, destroying equipment used by so-called garimpeiros, mostly clandestine Brazilian miners, in an operation that a TF1 news team was allowed to witness firsthand.
At 5 a.m. in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, the operation's commander briefed his team before departure. He said the mission's primary objective was to destroy the enemy's production tools, and warned his men that armed confrontation could not be ruled out. The Cayenne branch of the GIGN, the French national police intervention group, was preparing to take part in a high-risk operation to destroy some of the largest illegal gold mining sites in the territory.
Flying over a gold-rich jungle
Aboard a French Air Force Caracal helicopter, GIGN officers flew over the forest that covers most of French Guiana, one of the most gold-rich territories in the world. The area has been hit by a gold rush from neighboring Brazil and Suriname, and in its jungle, a lawless zone, miners and armed gangs clash over the precious metal. The Cayenne GIGN unit's mission is to curb what the report described as a deadly phenomenon that destroys local wildlife and vegetation, as part of Operation Harpie, launched by the French state in 2008 with an annual budget of 70 million euros.
In front of TF1's camera, the officers spotted an active site. A first group descended to secure the area with assault rifles loaded. The illegal miners, mostly undocumented Brazilians, fled at full speed when they spotted the French soldiers. Above the journalists, a second helicopter carrying a sniper stood ready, since danger in the jungle can appear from anywhere.
Engines, pumps and wells destroyed
On the ground, the team found hectares of ravaged forest and camps abandoned in haste by the garimpeiros, clothes still hanging on lines strung between trees. The soldiers began destroying the engines, pumps and wells the miners use to extract gold from the jungle.
GIGN officers set fire to a rock crusher used to grind stone to extract gold. Sophie, the unit's nurse, watched closely, noting there was a very high risk of third-degree burns with potentially fatal injuries. According to the soldiers, several kilograms of gold are illegally extracted across the jungle every week.
Camps hidden near extraction sites
Minutes later, at another site, the soldiers found not just a mining operation but a village hidden deep in the jungle. The maneuver required precision, since the illegal miners had strung ropes between trees to prevent helicopters from landing, meaning the smallest piloting error could be fatal. Soldiers inspected a camp built to let miners stay for months at a time, keeping extraction sites nearby running around the clock.
Appliances, electric generators, even packs of soda bottles still wrapped in plastic, the soldiers destroyed all of it. One GIGN officer explained that supplies are brought in by canoe, at high cost that increases with distance, and that payment is made in gold. He said a single bottle of soda can be traded for one gram of gold, with the price of a gram of gold currently at 120 euros.
Searching for site leaders
Soldiers said that as gold prices have surged, activity at illegal mining sites has grown rapidly. Most of the low-level workers on these sites are Brazilian. The camp cook told TF1 she came to work there hoping for a better life in Brazil, and that she would like to build a house there. Soldiers said they show more tolerance toward workers like her, focusing instead on logisticians and network leaders, who are far harder to find.
One GIGN officer said a site leader might be present, but there is no way to identify him unless he is caught carrying gold or prohibited goods such as drugs or weapons. As the day ended, the mission was far from over. On the way back, the soldiers spotted canoes loaded with engines and supplies bound for mining sites.
Scale of illegal mining
Illegal gold mining destroys 150 hectares of forest and 100 kilometers of waterways in French Guiana every year, according to the source. A report from the local prefecture made public in December found that 8,000 clandestine gold miners, spread across nearly 600 illegal sites, extracted six tonnes of gold in 2025. About 280 gendarmes and soldiers are mobilized daily, carrying out more than 1,000 patrols a year as part of Operation Harpie. Miners also use mercury, banned in France since 2006, to bind gold flakes, a practice that pollutes water and soil and causes serious health problems for the local population.
