The authorities of Colombia and Brazil launched the second phase of the Amazonas Libre Il operation in the Puré River, a region where illegal economies, environmental damage and threats to indigenous communities converge.
With binational coordination that involved the National Police, the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC), the International Police Coordination Center (CCPI) and the Federal Police of Brazil, the offensive sought to dismantle a illegal mining structure that generated criminal income of USD9.3 million per month.
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The operation included the deployment of more than 90 Colombian soldiers, the use of Black Hawk helicopters and FAC aircraft, strengthened by shared intelligence through hemispheric cooperation platforms.
The CCPI and Ameripol facilitated real-time communication between the security forces of both countries, allowing coordination in the field and the rapid response to the cross-border dynamics of illegal mining.
The intervention focused on disabling the machinery used for the illicit extraction of gold: according to official figures, 14 river dragons, three tugboats, 33 engines and an excavator were destroyed, as well as the seizure of 4,800 gallons of fuel and 2.5 kilograms of mercury.
The National Police indicated that these assets represented more than $12,000 million in assets that supported the criminal chain associated with illegal mining, an activity that, according to the data presented, It supplied resources to the Amazon Block of the dissidents of alias Iván Mordisco and to the Border Commandos.
The operational balance presented by the authorities detailed that each dredge had the capacity to extract nearly 6,000 grams of gold per month, equivalent to the aforementioned USD9.3 million per month in illicit income.
The economic dimension of the damage was highlighted by the Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez, who, in his speech, stated that “the Amazon is not only the lungs of the world; it is home, it is life and it is the future.”
Sánchez described the operation as a “strong blow against criminal mining that destroys our rivers and finances criminal structures such as those of the alias Mordisco cartel and those of the alias Araña cartel.”
According to the official balance, the intervention had the additional objective of curbing the impacts on the Puré Natural National Park, a territory of high biodiversity where the last uncontacted indigenous tribe in Colombia lives.
The authorities reported that the noise of the dredges, the presence of illegal armed personnel and the risk of diseases transmitted by outsiders seriously affect this community and compromise their living conditions.
For his part, Brigadier General Carlos Germán Oviedo Lamprea, director of Carabineros and Environmental Protection, highlighted the scope of the action by stating that it was not only a blow to the finances of illegal structures, but also “a survival action; We are protecting the water of the Puré River and guaranteeing the territorial and cultural integrity of our last uncontacted tribe”.
The authorities considered this operation an advance within the regional strategy against transnational illicit economies, with an impact on environmental protection and the defense of vulnerable areas in the Amazon.
“Protecting the Amazon is protecting our identity, our biodiversity and the future of our children. To the citizens: we are where we should be, complying with the security, life and defense of the country. Report and help us fight crime! (sic)”, complemented the Minister of Defense in his publication.
Finally, the senior official recalled the lines to report events that threaten the well-being of Colombians: against crime: 314 358 7212 / 107- 157; Gaula: 147 – 165; child recruitment: 141.
