Documents obtained by BBC News Brasil from investigations and operations carried out by federal agencies show that the “backbone” of the logistical structure of illegal mines in the Yanomami Indigenous Land is formed by an aviation fuel diversion scheme, hundreds of airstrips clandestines, weapons, radio communicators and satellite internet. In recent months, federal agents have destroyed runways, planes and seized weapons and radio equipment used by miners that threaten the survival of thousands of indigenous people.
The Yanomami land was approved in 1992 and is the largest indigenous reserve in Brazil — with 94,000 square kilometers. It is estimated that it is home to 27 thousand indigenous people. The region has been coveted by miners all over the country, since the 1980s, in search of ores such as gold and cassiterite, used in the manufacture of tin. Government estimates are that there are between 3,000 and 3,500 illegal miners in the region. Entities working in the defense of indigenous rights claim that this number could reach 20 thousand.
Data from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) indicate that deforestation in the Yanomami indigenous land increased by 516% in the period between 2019 and 2020 compared to the previous period, between 2017 and 2018. In the last two years, 39.1 km² were deforested , the equivalent of 3,900 soccer fields. In the previous period, deforestation was 6.34 km².
To reach the region where the mines are located, the two main means are the rivers or the skies. Miners challenge the rapids of the rivers that cut through the region to reach irregularly exploited areas.
Usually, this transport is done in rudimentary aluminum boats called “voadeiras”. These vessels transport people, food and equipment used in the extraction of gold.
In addition to the speedboats, the miners also use small side roads and an intricate aerial network.
For the most part, it is made up of clandestine flights and airstrips that transport people and supplies, but it is also used to transport illegal gold production out of the mines.
the fuel route
The cycle of actions against illegal mining in the region was named Operation Xapiri. It is the result of a lawsuit filed by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in Roraima against illegal mining in the region and involves bodies such as Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), the ANP (National Petroleum Agency), the Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency), Federal Police and MJSP (Ministry of Justice and Public Security).
Given its strategic importance, agents began to act to paralyze the aerial structure of the garimpos. Since the beginning of investigations into the clandestine air network that supports the mines in the region, one of the main “mysteries” was to discover the origin of the jet fuel that powered this fleet.
The agents then cross-referenced information contained in invoices and other documents and arrived at the Boa Vista branch of Pioneiro CombustÃveis, one of the largest aviation fuel distributors in Brazil, with 24 units in the North, Northeast, Midwest and Southeast regions. .
The company is identified as the main supplier of aviation fuel for the aerial structure that supports illegal mining in the Yanomami indigenous land.
According to ANP rules, aviation fuel distributors can only sell the product to properly licensed refueling stations or to aircraft that have an ANAC airworthiness certificate within the validity period.
The certificate is a kind of “authorization” for the aircraft to be able to fly. The requirements, when met, facilitate fuel tracking.
The company’s documents, according to the investigation, show that it sold at least 860,000 liters of jet fuel irregularly. The value is more than half of the 1.5 million liters of gasoline and aviation kerosene sold by Pioneiro in Roraima.
Until reaching the garimpos, however, the product travels almost 4.6 thousand kilometers, leaving Cubatão, in São Paulo, until it reaches Boa Vista.
The fuel is produced by Petrobras, which then resells it to Vibra Energia, the new name of the former BR Distribuidora, a former Petrobras subsidiary privatized in 2019.
Petrobras was contacted by the report and sent a note stating that Pioneiro CombustÃveis is not its client.
“Pioneiro CombustÃveis is not a Petrobras aviation fuel customer. The company acquires the product from aviation fuel distributors,” says the statement from the state-owned company.
Vibra Energia was also contacted for the article, but until the time of publication of this article, it had not manifested itself.
In a statement, the ANP informed that Pioneiro CombustÃveis was fined for non-compliance with the rule that regulates the sale of aviation fuel and that the case is still pending, but that it is in a regular situation and authorized to continue selling the product. If found guilty at the end of the process, the company could be subject to fines between R$5,000 and R$5 million.
BBC News Brasil contacted Pioneiro CombustÃveis’ lawyer and sent questions about the preliminary findings of the investigation. By text message, the company’s lawyer, Janaina Sousa Lopes, said that the company “has been in the market for more than 30 years and does not condone any alleged irregularity”.
fuel distribution
After reaching Pioneiro CombustÃveis’ tanks, part of the product was, according to investigations, sold irregularly to supply points located in areas close to the indigenous land. In these places, planes that flew to the mines would be supplied clandestinely.
In one case, agents discovered that a company operating one of these refueling points had purchased 40,000 liters of jet fuel. In one of the phases of the operation, the agents even apprehended seven aircraft at the scene.
Days later, two of these aircraft were found and destroyed by Ibama on a clandestine airstrip near the Yanomami indigenous land.
In another situation, Pioneiro documents show that it delivered 39,000 liters of fuel in November to an airfield that had been embargoed by Ibama in October, which prohibited it from receiving the product.
According to the investigations, the company could not claim ignorance about the destination of the product because the fuel was delivered by Pioneiro’s own trucks.
Another part of the fuel, according to the documents, was placed directly in the tank of aircraft without authorization to fly.
According to data provided by the company itself, at least four aircraft without Anac authorization to fly were filled with at least 4,000 liters of fuel. In the region, aircraft without authorization to fly carry out the so-called “ghost flights”, which evade any type of inspection.
The agents also found at least one foreign aircraft without a flight authorization given by ANAC that received fuel from Pioneiro and which was spotted on clandestine runways that operate close to garimpos.
On December 13, Ibama fined Pioneiro CombustÃveis R$1.5 million for illegally transporting and selling aviation gasoline and kerosene. In addition to the fine, the company had its activities suspended.
On December 21, however, the Federal Court of Roraima granted an injunction suspending the fine and the suspension of the company’s activities on the grounds that it could affect essential activities such as the supply of aircraft that provide medical care in the region.
Clues, weapons, radio and internet
With the fuel supply guaranteed, the miners set up a large and well-connected network of clandestine airstrips, which even included makeshift hangars deep in the jungle.
At one of these points, located just over five kilometers from the limit of the Yanomami indigenous land, IBAMA agents found a large house on the margins of a clandestine runway that served as a shelter for aircraft and helicopters operating in the mine.
At the scene, agents also found weapons with telescopic sights, pistols, ammunition of various calibers, telecommunication radio equipment and satellite internet.
The weapons, according to the members of the operation, are used to secure the site against assailants or rival groups.
Radios are used to communicate between runways and aircraft, and satellite internet helps miners break the isolation and communicate with each other when combat operations take place.
Several escape attempts during Operation Xapiri were recorded by agents. In one of them, a helicopter took off from a clandestine runway just as the IBAMA helicopter arrived at the scene.
Preliminary data indicate that at least 277 clandestine airstrips have been identified around the Yanomami indigenous land.
Mystery Solved
For the prosecutor of the Republic Alisson Marugal, the preliminary information passed on by Ibama was useful to solve part of what he classified as “mystery”.
“For us, it has always been a mystery to know where the enormous amount of fuel that supplied the aircraft that support mining in the region came from. for this network that supplies the garimpos,” said the prosecutor.
Marugal explains that, based on the information passed on by Ibama, the MPF should act both in the criminal and civil liability direction.
“We have to assess, from a criminal point of view, all the responsibilities of those involved. And in the civil sphere, we are going to verify if it is appropriate to propose changes in the monitoring system for the sale of aviation fuel to prevent the product from fueling criminal activities”, he explained .
In addition to investigating the logistical network that supports the mining, the MPF in Roraima and other states is also investigating other branches of this activity, such as the flow of production, the “heating” of illegal gold and its introduction into the legal metal market . These investigations are concentrated in states such as Roraima, Rondônia, Pará and Mato Grosso.
A study prepared by the UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) released this year indicates that 28% of all gold traded in Brazil between 2019 and 2020 had evidence of irregularities. This is equivalent to 49 of the 174 tons of gold registered in the country in the period. It is estimated that most of Brazil’s illegal gold comes from mining in the Amazon.
.
