The Federal Police is carrying out a joint operation with other inspection bodies to combat illegal gold mining in areas of the Crepori and Tapajós rivers, near the Munduruku indigenous land, in the municipalities of Itaituba and Jacareacanga, in Pará.
The operation, called the Brazilian Caribbean, began on Monday morning (14) and targets mining sites whose increased activity caused, in January, the change in color of the Tapajos River in Alter do Chão, a region known for its crystal-clear waters.
The Crepori is a tributary of the Tapajós, and satellite images have shown how the sediments produced by the increased mining activity were loaded and muddy the crystal clear waters of the Alter do Chão region.
The purpose of the operation, says the PF, is to disable the mining and destroy machinery such as barges and dredgers used by companies targeted by the PF and Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).
The investigators are targeting mining sites spread across 5 regions on the banks of the Crepori, Tapajós and streams, all within the Tapajós Environmental Protection Area, close to the Munduruku indigenous land.
The companies and prospectors that operate in the region, according to data from Ibama, do not have federal authorization for mining, and some of them only have records issued by the municipalities of Itaituba and Jacareacanga and a license from the Secretary of the Environment of Pará.
As it is a Federal Conservation Unit, the activities of companies without the authorization of ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation) is considered illegal.
