An investigation by Insight Crime in 2024 discovered that prospectors are damaging Bolivia's Tuichi River and Madidi National Park in their search for gold. As miners increasingly breach the reserve, park rangers have reduced their patrols and inspections. The mining is carried out by small-scale cooperatives, known locally as cooperativas, which sometimes act like mafias. These cooperatives control 94% of Bolivia's national gold production. They often operate in a state of near-impunity, thanks to grey areas in Bolivian law and little oversight by the government's mining agency, AJAM. The cooperatives have political power and have been known to hold the government hostage, bribe and coerce mining agency officials, and have dealings with Colombian and Chinese mining outfits. Bolivia is currently experiencing a gold boom, with production increasing from 6.3 tons in 2010 to 42 tons in 2019, fuelled by a distinct lack of controls on the mining, sale, or export of the precious metal.