Clandestine flights on Yanomami lands down 90% since crackdown started
Clandestine flights in the Yanomami indigenous territory fell 90 percent in the five months since the beginning of the crackdown on illegal mining in the region.
According to a report released Tuesday (Jun. 27) by the Armed Forces, Operação Ágata Fronteira Norte (“Operation Agate: Northern Frontier”) seized BRL 30.9 million in objects—including 42 tons of cassiterite, the natural oxide from which tin ore is extracted. Carried out by Joint Operational Command Amazônia, the effort comprised the Brazilian Army, Navy, and Air Force.
The agents also seized or destroyed fuel, gold, mercury, tents, motors, cell phones, rafts, boats, aircraft, ammunition, and weapons.
Brigadier André Gustavo Fernandes Peçanha, from the Joint Command, reported that the total material seized and destroyed was estimated to value BRL 30,972,825. The operation, he went on, faced great challenges—such as the large 57.43 thousand km² area, which requires aircraft; and the frequent downpours, which pelt the area mostly from April to August.
General Ricardo Augusto Costa Neves announced a 90 percent reduction in illegal mining. Besides the seizures, the operation destroyed 19 illegal mines in the territory and identified 70 clandestine landing strips. Flights on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions covered 35 thousand kilometers.
“We have the opportunity to show the effort the Brazilian state has been making to address the problems in the Yanomami indigenous territory and, above all, how we do this in an impeccably coordinated manner with federal agencies, which is crucial to the success of our next steps,” General Neves declared.
Support
The operation also includes health and assistance initiatives for indigenous communities. According to the Army, 23,438 food baskets were delivered to the Yanomami people and 2,424 medical consultations were carried out in the territory.
Expansion
The scope of the work of the Armed Forces in the region was recently expanded. On June 22, acting President Geraldo Alckmin signed a decree stipulating that the Ministry of Defense was to be active in measures to prevent and repress “cross-border and environmental crimes,” carrying out patrols, searching people and vehicles, and even arresting individuals in flagrante delicto.
Previously, the Ministry of Defense operated only with intelligence and logistics, transporting the agents responsible for driving out miners from the Yanomami territory. The document allows for expanded action both in the land border strip and in areas of inland waters of the territory.
