Nearly 100 people arrested in Amazon environmental crime crackdown
The crackdown, coordinated by the United Arab Emirates, has struck a major blow to transnational environmental crime networks, officials said.
The campaign, which ran from 23 June 23 to 6 July, mobilised more than 1,500 officers from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Authorities conducted over 350 coordinated raids targeting illegal mining, wildlife trafficking, logging and fuel smuggling across some of the Amazon's most remote and ecologically sensitive regions.
Dubbed Operation Green Shield, the crackdown was coordinated by the UAE's Ministry of Interior through the International Initiative of Law Enforcement for Climate (I2LEC), a platform launched in 2023 to support climate-related policing. A central command centre was established in Colombia's capital, Bogota, with real-time data sharing, officials said.
'Environmental crime displaces communities, fuels violence against women and children, and erodes cultural heritage. These are not just crimes against nature - they are crimes against people,' Lt. Col. Dana Humaid, Director-General of the International Affairs Bureau at the UAE Ministry of Interior and Coordinator of I2LEC, told The Associated Press (AP) in a call.
Humaid said countries worked closely to set shared priorities, ensuring the operation aligned with both national objectives and broader international goals.
¨That's what made it different - it wasn't top-down, it was a joint design and execution,' she said.
Trafficking endangered species
Among the seizures were more than 310 tonnes of raw minerals, 3,800 cubic metres of timber, 39,000 gallons of smuggled fuel, and 530 pieces of equipment, including trucks and bulldozers.
Authorities also recovered more than 2,100 live animals and 6,350 dead specimens - including birds, reptiles, and mammals - that were being trafficked through illegal wildlife networks.
Raids and arrests took place simultaneously across a wide stretch of the Amazon, including Sarare Indigenous Land in Brazil's Mato Grosso state, home to the Nambikwara people, and El Cenepa Province in Peru's Amazonas region, where the Kumpanam Indigenous community resides, authorities said.
In Brazil, authorities also deployed teams in Amapa state. In Colombia, operations were carried out in at least 22 departments, including Putumayo, Guaviare, Choco, Antioquia and Vichada.
In Ecuador, law enforcement activity spanned dozens of locations from Carchi Province, home to the Awa Indigenous people, to Loja, Zamora, Santo Domingo and other provinces.
One of the largest wildlife rescues occurred in Peru, where police recovered 1,400 live animals and dismantled a group known as Los Depredadores del Oriente, accused of trafficking endangered species.
In Colombia, authorities said they disrupted three criminal groups and took down a cell allegedly linked to the Clan del Golfo, a powerful organised crime syndicate.
What has Operation Green Shield achieved?
Humaid said the operation demonstrated how international cooperation can be used to confront environmental crime and that in previous operations, like in the Congo Basin, it was a heritage issue.
"In the Amazon, we're seeing the same thing - these crimes directly impact Indigenous communities, their land, their livelihoods, and their identity."
The use of satellite-based geolocation tools allowed teams to coordinate across borders and monitor operations in real time, enabling what officials called one of the most synchronised environmental enforcement actions in the region to date.
Colombian authorities described the operation as part of a broader national and international strategy.
'We achieved real progress against illegal mining, fuel theft, and wildlife trafficking,' said Col. Jorge Andres Bernal Granada, director of environmental protection at Colombia's National Police.
Ecuador's Deputy Police Commander Fausto Iñiguez Sotomayor called the country's first participation in an I2LEC-led operation a 'critical step,' while Gen. Manuel Elías Lozada Morales of Peru said the campaign proved that 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 the work disrupted illegal gold mining operations in hard-to-reach areas.
Officials said further arrests and seizures are likely as follow-up investigations continue.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
17-07-2025
- LeMonde
Fire kills more than 60 in newly opened Iraq mall
A fire at a newly opened mall in eastern Iraq's Wasit province killed more than 60 people, including women and children, Iraqi officials said Thursday, July 17. Iraq's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that 61 people died, most of them from suffocation, in the fire that broke out late Wednesday in the city of Kut. Among the dead were 14 charred bodies that remain unidentified, it said. Civil defense teams were able to rescue more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, the statement said. The mall, which had opened only a week earlier, was in a five-story building that also contained a restaurant and supermarket. The state-run Iraqi News Agency reported that people remained missing. Photographs and videos on local media showed the building fully engulfed in flames. Provincial Governor Mohammed al-Mayyeh in a statement declared three days of mourning. He said the cause of the fire is under investigation but that legal cases were filed against the building owner and mall owner. He did not specify what the charges were. "We assure the families of the innocent victims that we will not be lenient with those who were directly or indirectly responsible for this incident," al-Mayyeh said. The results of the preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours, he said. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he had directed the interior minister to go to the site of the fire to investigate and take measures to prevent a recurrence. Poor building standards have often contributed to tragic fires in Iraq. In July 2021, a blaze at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah that killed between 60 to 92 people was determined to have been fueled by highly flammable, low-cost type of "sandwich panel" cladding that is illegal in Iraq. In 2023, more than 100 people died in a fire at a wedding hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machine burst into flames.
Euronews
17-07-2025
- Euronews
Fire at Iraqi shopping centre kills more than 60 and injures dozens
A fire that tore through a shopping centre in the Iraqi city of Kut has left more than 60 people dead and dozens injured, Iraqi officials said on Thursday. Iraq's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that 61 people died, most of them from suffocation. Fourteen remain unidentified among the dead, it said. Civil defence teams were able to rescue more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, the statement said. The shopping centre, which had opened only a week earlier, was in a five-story building that also contained a restaurant and supermarket. The state-run Iraqi News Agency reported that people remained missing. Photographs and videos on local media showed the building fully engulfed in flames. Three days of national mourning have been declared for the victims, and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire. The results of the probe are expected within two days. Legal cases were filed against the building and shopping centre owners, Provincial Governor Mohammed al-Mayyeh said in a statement. He did not specify what the charges were. "We assure the families of the innocent victims that we will not be lenient with those who were directly or indirectly responsible for this incident," al-Mayyeh said. The results of the preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours, he said. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he had directed the interior minister to go to the site of the fire to investigate and take measures to prevent a recurrence. Poor building standards have often contributed to tragic fires in Iraq. In July 2021, a blaze at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah that killed between 60 and 92 people was determined to have been fueled by a highly flammable, low-cost type of "sandwich panel" cladding that is illegal in Iraq. In 2023, more than 100 people died in a fire at a wedding hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machine burst into flames.
Euronews
15-07-2025
- Euronews
Syrian Druze leader accuses government of breaking ceasefire
A leader of Syria's Druze religious minority has accused the government of violating a ceasefire agreement aimed at halting deadly fighting between local militias and factions in the country's southern Sweida province. The clashes began over the weekend with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between members of local Sunni Bedouins and Druze armed factions in Sweida, a hub of the Druze community. Dozens of people have died and thousands have been displaced. Government security forces that were deployed to the city of Sweida — the provincial capital — on Monday to restore order also clashed with Druze armed groups. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said on Tuesday that at least 100 people had died in the fighting, including two children and 16 members of the security forces. In the early hours of Tuesday, the Druze spiritual leadership called for armed factions that have been clashing with government forces to surrender their weapons and cooperate with authorities as they entered the city. The initial statement called for armed factions in Sweida to "cooperate with the forces of the Ministry of Interior, not to resist their entry, and to hand over their weapons". The commander of Internal Security in Sweida Governorate, Ahmad al-Dalati, welcomed the statement and called for "all religious authorities and social activists to adopt a unified national stance". However, just hours later, influential Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri — who has been opposed to the new government in Damascus — released a video message saying that the minority's previous statement had been "imposed" on them by Damascus. "They broke the promise and continued the indiscriminate shelling of unarmed civilians," al-Hajri said in the video message. "We are being subjected to a total war of annihilation," he said, urging Druze "to confront this barbaric campaign with all means available." Videos shared on social media showed armed fighters with Druze captives, inciting hateful slogans and beating them. Euronews could not independently verify the videos. Shortly after al-Hajri's video message was published, Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra issued a statement announcing that a total ceasefire was in place, saying "we will respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups". Israeli intervention Clashes have on several occasions broken out between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in early December in a lightning rebel offensive led by Sunni insurgent groups. The latest round of fighting has raised fears of another spiral of violence, and also fuelled concerns about escalating Israeli intervention. The Israeli army said in a statement on Tuesday that it had struck several military vehicles in the Sweida region. An earlier joint statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the country was committed to protecting the Druze in Syria and was taking action to "prevent the Syrian regime from harming them". Israel has previously intervened in Syria in defence of the Druze minority. In Israel, Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces. The Druze — a group that split from Ismaili Shi'ism in the 10th century — are concentrated in Sweida and in certain Damascus suburbs such as Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya. During Syria's 14-year civil war, Druze factions formed their own militias and have remained largely self-governed. While many Druze in Syria have said they do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf, factions from the minority have also been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus.
