Federal Police operations target the illegal extraction and trade of gold in Roraima, with deployment in Pernambuco.| Photo: Federal Police/disclosure

The Federal Police launched, this Friday morning (10), two operations aimed at the illegal extraction and trade of gold in the states of Roraima and Pernambuco.

The first of them, called Operation Liberation, is carried out in the area of ​​demarcated lands for the Yanomami peoples, with the destruction of the equipment used for the extraction of the precious metal and the withdrawal of prospectors.

“The focus of the actions is on the logistics of the crime and the recording of the materiality of the crime, not on the people involved, in order to avoid difficulties in the departure of non-indigenous people from the Yanomami Land”, says Humberto Freire, head of the directorate for the environment and PF Amazon.

The action is part of the work that has been carried out since the beginning of the month to prevent open mining in areas demarcated for indigenous peoples, together with Ibama, Funai, the National Force and the Ministry of Defense.

The second operation carries out eight search and seizure warrants and the blocking of assets in Roraima and Pernambuco, in the investigation of a criminal organization suspected of coordinating a money laundering scheme in the illicit gold trade.

Investigations point out that the group would have moved BRL 64 million in just over two years with the use of shell companies. “Suspects would receive amounts from various financiers throughout Brazil and withdraw or transfer the amounts to people and companies in the state of Roraima, which would be responsible for buying illegal gold”, says the PF in a note.