Over 90 arrests in the global approach to environmental crimes in the Amazon pool

Bogotá, Colombia (AP) – assets worth more than 64 million US dollars were confiscated and 94 people were arrested as part of a multinational law enforcement authority, which aimed at environmental crimes in the Amazon Basin.

According to the officials

The campaign, which took place from July 23rd to 6th, mobilized more than 1,500 officers from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reports Associated Press. The authorities led over 350 coordinated raids against illegal mining, wildlife trade, protocol and fuel smuggling in some of the most remote and ecologically sensitive regions of the Amazon.

The procedure as Operation Green Shield was coordinated by the VAE interior ministry by the international initiative of the law enforcement authorities for the climate (I2LEC). A central command center was set up in the Colombian capital Bogotá with real-time data exchange, officials said.

“Environmental crimes displace communities, drives violence against women and children and erodes the cultural heritage. These are not only crimes against the nature-sie against people,” Lieutenant Colonel Dana Humaid, director of the international affairs of the international affairs of the International Affairs in the Ministry of the Interior Ministry and Coordinator of I2LEC, said AP A-call.

Humaid said that the federal states worked closely on the specified priorities to ensure that the operation matched both national goals and with broader international goals.

“What it did differently-it was not upwards, it was a common design and a common execution,” she said.

The seizures included more than 310 tons of raw minerals, 3,800 cubic meters of wood, 39,000 gallons smuggled fuel and 530 equipment, including trucks and bulldozers.

The authorities have also brought back more than 2,100 living animals and 6,350 dead copies – including birds, reptiles and mammals – that were traded by illegal wild sterils.

Raids and arrests took place at the same time over a wide section of the Amazon, including Sarare Indigenous Land in the Brazil state of Mato Grosso, home of the Nambikwara -Volkes, and the province of El Cenepa in Peru's Amazon region, in which the indigenous community of Kumpanam resides, said authorities.

In Brazil, the authorities also used teams in the state of Amapa. In Colombia, the operations were carried out in at least 22 departments, including Putumayo, Guaviare, Choco, Antoquia and Vicada. In Ecuador, the law enforcement activities extended dozens of locations from the province of Carchi, in which the indigenous people of the AWA, Loja, Zamora, Santo Domingo and other provinces.

One of the largest wildlife rescues occurred in Peru, where the police regained 1,400 living animals and a group that was known as Los Deprehrer Del Orientin was accused of trading. In Colombia, the authorities said that they had disturbed three criminal groups and put down a cell that was supposedly connected to the Clan del Golfo, a strong syndicate for organized crime.

Humaid said the operation showed how international cooperation can be used to confront environmental crimes and that it was a heir problem in previous operations, such as in the Congo Basin.

We see the same thing – these crimes have an indigenous communities, their country, their livelihood and their identity.

By using satellite-based geolocation tools, teams were able to coordinate across borders and monitor the company in real time to enable civil servants as one of the most synchronized environmental measures in the region in the region.

The Colombian authorities described the operation as part of a wider national and international strategy.

“We have made real progress against illegal mining, fuel theft and wildlife trade,” said Colonel Jorge Andrés Bernal Granada, director of environmental protection at the National Police in Colombia.

The deputy police commander of Ecuador, Fausto Iñiguez Sotomayor, described the country's first participation in an operation led by I2LEC as a “critical step”, while General Manuel Elías Lozada Morales said that the campaign showed that the countries “can effectively protect one of the most important ecosystems on the planet”.

Renato Madsen Arruda, Brazil's Federal Coordinator for Amazon and Environmental Protection, said that the work has difficult to achieve illegal gold mining operations in.

Officials said further arrests and seizures are likely if follow-up investigations are continued.

The Canadian press released this Associated Press Story again on July 10, 2025.