Brazil’s Federal Police, supported by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, launched Operation Nemesis on October 27 to combat illegal gold extraction from the bed of the Madeira River in Rondônia.
In an area between the districts of Calama and São Carlos, officers rendered unusable 72 vessels and machines employed in illegal mining. They included dredges, tugboats, small motorboats, engines and pumps. A further 16,000 litres of diesel intended to supply the equipment were also rendered unusable.
Authorities also seized three containers of mercury and eight mobile phones. The items will be examined and could help identify the dredge owners and those financing the criminal activity.
