PF makes new operation against illegal mining in Roraima – 02/14/2023 – Daily life

The PF (Federal Police) launched this Tuesday (14) an operation to investigate the purchase of illicit gold in Roraima. The action was named Avis Aurea (golden bird, in Latin), in allusion to the departure of gold by means of commercial planes in the state.

According to the PF, 13 search and seizure warrants are being served in Roraima, São Paulo and Goiás. Businessmen, lawyers and a public servant are among those investigated, but the corporation did not disclose the names of the targets of the warrants.

The investigation began after the Federal Highway Police seized more than R$ 4 million in cash in a vehicle in the city of Cáceres, in Mato Grosso. The PF said that the amount would be transferred to the acquisition of illegal gold in the capital of Roraima, Boa Vista.

In a statement, the PF said that part of the organization would be based in the state and would receive amounts from individuals and companies from other locations for the purchase of gold from illegal mines. The main way of moving money would be overland, leaving the Southeast and Midwest regions to Boa Vista.

As for the departure of the gold from Roraima, the group would count on the support of an employee of an airline company.

The PF said that the organization would have moved at least BRL 422 million in five years. One of the companies involved has already been the target of an action that seized 111 kg of gold on a plane in Goiânia.

Last week, the PF launched Operation Liberation, which seeks to seize or destroy infrastructure used in illegal mining and gather evidence of criminal activity in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, also in Roraima.

Recent actions by the PF in relation to illegal mining occur after the invasion of more than 20,000 prospectors to the indigenous reserve in recent years. The invasions resulted in disease and armed violence that terrified the Yanomami, estimated to number around 28,000, and led to a humanitarian crisis among the indigenous people, causing severe malnutrition and deaths.

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) declared a health emergency on Yanomami land and said it will have zero tolerance for mining on indigenous lands, protected by the Constitution.

Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), has championed mining on protected indigenous lands, and his government has turned a blind eye to a further rise in reservation invasions by illegal miners and loggers, as well as reducing funding for enforcement of environmental crimes.