FILE - Dredging barges operated by illegal miners converge on the Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon river, searching for gold, in Autazes, Amazonas state, Brazil, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
FILE - Dredging barges operated by illegal miners converge on the Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon river, searching for gold, in Autazes, Amazonas state, Brazil, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Brazilian police backed by Interpol have destroyed hundreds of dredges used in illegal gold mining along the Madeira River, in one of the biggest coordinated crackdowns yet on criminal networks operating across the Amazon Basin.
The international police agency said officers dismantled 277 floating mining rafts worth an estimated $6.8 million. When factoring in lost gold, equipment and environmental damage, officials estimated the total financial blow to organized crime groups at about $193 million.
The Madeira River, one of the Amazon’s largest tributaries, flows from the Andes through Bolivia into northern Brazil before joining the main Amazon River — an area long plagued by illegal mining and environmental crime.
The raids were led by Brazil’s Federal Police Amazon and Environment Protection Division, a special unit focused on combating environmental crimes, with support from a new regional coordination center linking law enforcement agencies from several Amazon countries. More than 100 officers used satellite data to map 400 square kilometers (155 square miles) of forest and river areas scarred by mining, Interpol said Monday.
Interpol — the international organization that helps police in nearly 200 countries share intelligence and coordinate operations — said the crackdown builds on a series of in Latin America targeting illegal gold mining, logging and wildlife trafficking. Such crimes are among the biggest drivers of deforestation and river contamination in the Amazon, and often fund broader organized crime networks.
The operation comes just weeks before world leaders gather in the northern Brazilian city of Belem for COP30, where Brazil is expected to highlight its efforts to curb Amazon destruction and illegal mining.
“This operation marks a new chapter in our collective effort to protect the Amazon,” Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said in a statement, calling it proof that regional cooperation can strike at the financial networks behind environmental crimes.
Interpol said liaison officers from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru and Suriname took part in the operation, though it did not specify when it took place.
Authorities said samples of sediment and other materials were collected for forensic analysis to trace their origin and detect hazardous substances such as mercury and cyanide. Residents were also tested for possible toxic exposure linked to gold mining activities.
Brazil’s Federal Police said follow-up investigations aim to identify and prosecute the financiers and ringleaders behind the illicit gold trade — not just the miners, who are often exploited in the process.
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