Brazilian authorities conducted a crackdown on more than 200 illegal gold-mining dredges ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP30). AP reported it was the largest operation ever carried out against criminal groups operating in the Amazon.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a press release on the 3rd (local time) stating that Brazilian police had seized 277 dredges on the Madeira River and estimated their total value at $6.8 million (about 9.8 billion KRW). These dredges had been excavating riverbank sediments or dumping gold-extraction waste into the river.

The Madeira River, the largest tributary of the Amazon, originates in the Andes ​​Mountains and passes through Bolivia and northern Brazil. Illegal mining has long taken place in this gold-rich region.

Gold mining harms the environment. Extracting gold from ore requires chemicals such as sodium cyanide, and licensed operators dispose of chemical waste in accordance with strict government standards. However, illegal miners release residues directly into the river and sometimes use mercury, which is cheaper and more toxic than sodium cyanide.

The search for deposits also drives large-scale deforestation, because infrastructure such as roads and accommodations must be built to transport gold and mining equipment around the deposits.

Interpol determined that more than 400㎢ of rivers and forests had been damaged because of gold mining during this operation.

The operation, led by Brazilian police with cooperation from Interpol and ‘Amazon International Police Cooperation Center’ (CCPI Amazon), deployed more than 100 officers. Interpol estimated that the dredge seizures inflicted $193 million (about 277.3 billion KRW) in financial losses on the illegal mining crime groups. It added that Brazilian authorities obtained confidential information on the illegal mining network.

CCPI Amazon is a cooperative body created to respond to transnational crimes occurring in the Amazon, including illegal mining and drug·arms trafficking. Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela are participating.

Brazilian police said that through follow-up investigations they will seek to identify and indict not only the miners on site but also the financiers and crime syndicate leaders behind the gold trade.