"BOGOTA, Colombia — Police from five Amazon countries have arrested hundreds of people and seized timber, minerals and thousands of livestock in one of the largest coordinated crackdowns on environmental crime ever carried out in the world’s largest rainforest.
Authorities from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru said Tuesday that Operation Green Shield 2026, which ran from July 15-31, deployed more than 3,600 officers targeting illegal mining, logging, wildlife trafficking, fuel smuggling and land grabbing — the illegal seizure or occupation of land, often followed by forest clearing — across the Amazon Basin.
The operation resulted in 839 arrests during 1,045 field actions and the seizure of more than 280,000 cubic meters (9.9 million cubic feet) of illegally harvested timber — enough to fill roughly 110 Olympic-sized swimming pools — along with 195 metric tons of minerals and equipment used in illegal mining like gold, carbon, iron and copper, according to officials. Authorities also rescued more than 3,000 live animals and recovered at least 430 dead animals linked to wildlife trafficking, including snakes, birds, lizards and fish."
Steven Grattan reports for the Associated Press August 4, 2026.
SEE ALSO:
"Brazil’s Police Raid Suspects Accused Of Using Chemicals To Clear The Amazon Rainforest" (AP)
