Colombia fights illegal mining in the Amazon

In the Cotue-Caño Pimate River area, Amazonas department, Colombian armed forces have struck a blow against a faction of the Segunda Marquetalia, a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This criminal group, which is involved in illegal mining and drug trafficking, among other activities, produced approximately 18 kilograms of gold per month in that area.

This was one of the many successes achieved by the armed forces this year in the fight against illegal mining, between January 1 and July 2, a period in which they also destroyed 44 dredgers and took control of 23 mining production units, plundering the coffers of organized crime for an estimated $18.5 million, the General Command of the Colombian Armed Forces (CGFM) told Dialogue.

These operational achievements help to alleviate the environmental crisis in the Amazon region of Colombia, part of the lungs of the world. In the same way, the Colombian military forces seek to guarantee the integrity of the ethnic communities that inhabit this area, according to the CGFM.

“The National Government, the General Command and the Army Command have issued clear orders so that the Army, the Armed Forces, the National Police and the authorities that deal with illegal economies, illegal exploitation and miners, join forces and work together permanently,” Colombian Army Brigadier General Edilberto Cortés Moncada, commander of the 26th Jungle Brigade in Leticia, Amazonas, told Dialogue.

The Colombian government has taken precautions to protect the Yurí and Passé indigenous communities, isolated peoples living in the Rio Puré National Park on the border with Brazil. Illegal mining is becoming a growing threat to the people living in these areas, not only because of mercury contamination, environmental degradation and deforestation, but also because of the dangers they face due to their isolation, environmental news platform Mongabay Latin America reported. “The Yurí Passé are at risk of coming into contact with illegal miners and drug traffickers, which is a violation of their right and self-determination to be isolated from the Western world.”

“It is our duty to protect the water sources because the water that they (these and other communities) drink comes from these rivers,” said Brig. Gen. Cortés. “Why is it so important for us to have continuous operations against illegal mining? Because they are indiscriminately polluting these water sources by dumping cyanide and mercury.”

Under this mandate, one of the largest operations against illegal mining was carried out in the Amazon jungle, on the Puré River, on the border between Colombia and Brazil, at the end of May. In this operation, the authorities of both countries neutralized a huge mining camp consisting of 16 dredgers and five excavators, which were used to extract approximately 6 kilograms of gold per month.

“Troops from the 26th Brigade of the National Army, the Amazon Coast Guard Group of the Navy and the Air Force, in a binational operation with the 16th Jungle Brigade of Brazil, located an area where criminals plundered a large part of the forest with excavators and chainsaws, causing irreparable damage through indiscriminate deforestation,” the CGFM said in a statement. “These illegal activities were carried out to clear the way for dredgers that, through the use of chemicals such as cyanide and mercury, were looking for gold in the area, regardless of the damage to the environment.”

During the trial, the illegal miners fled. Authorities are investigating which group or transnational gang these machines may belong to. There are organized armed groups on both sides of the border.

“We are trying to do mirror operations, that is, at the same time they are doing operations in Brazil and at the same time we are doing operations in Colombia to prevent them (the criminals) from crossing into Brazil when there are no Colombian authorities present or vice versa,” said Brig. Gen. Cortés. “When we do an operation, we are doing a joint effort with them and we are going at the same time to be able to contain most of these types of dredgers or craft rafts.”

One of the challenges Colombian authorities face is the distance to reach the Amazon. It can only be reached by plane from Bogotá, a detail that could complicate sustained operations in the long run, said Brig. Gen. Cortés. “This hinders the authorities’ arrival to be able to prosecute people and destroy the equipment with which they are affecting not only the Amazon and the Puré, but also the Caquetá and Putumayo rivers.”

These operations are carried out by the National Police through the Carabineros Directorate and the Criminal Investigation Section, which supervise the destruction of seized dredgers and rafts. The Colombian Air Force, for its part, carries out reconnaissance and captures the images used to plan the operations. As for the Colombian Navy, its troops are present in the sector with ships that navigate the river, with the support of the Marine Corps.

“With Brazil and Peru, we have some agreements from the General Command. We coordinate to share intelligence, training, operations and community actions,” said Brig. Gen. Cortés. “That’s why we are constantly exchanging intelligence reports to be able to respond to cross-border illegal activities in the Colombian Amazon.”

With these measures we want to limit the activities of criminal gangs present in the area, which seriously affect their finances, and prevent the destruction of rivers, flora and fauna.