AMAZONAS, BRAZIL - Four individuals were arrested on Thursday morning (28) during Operation Barões do Filão, led by Brazil’s Federal Police. The operation aims to dismantle a criminal organization involved in illegal gold mining, money laundering, and the exploitation of workers under conditions akin to slavery in the remote interior of Amazonas state.

According to the Federal Police, the action is a follow-up to Operation Mineração Obscura, which previously rescued more than 50 workers from slave-like conditions in clandestine underground mines in Maués, a municipality deep in the Amazon region.

As part of Thursday’s operation, officers executed four preventive arrest warrants and 12 search and seizure warrants across five municipalities spanning four Brazilian states.

In addition, a court ordered the freezing of assets and financial equivalent to over USD 13.6 million at current exchange rates—a sum reflecting the estimated environmental damage caused by the illegal mining activities.

The operation is supported by the Amazon International Police Cooperation Center (CCPI-Amazônia), which coordinates cross-border law enforcement efforts among Brazil’s nine Amazonian states and the nine countries that also share territory within the Amazon rainforest.

Source: amazonagency.news