A criminal organization specializing in the illegal extraction and trade of gold in southern Pará, especially in the Kayapó indigenous land, is targeted by the Federal Police’s Operation Terra Desolata, this Wednesday (27). Two hundred agents are serving 62 search and seizure warrants and 12 preventive arrest warrants in Pará, Amazonas, Goiás, Roraima, São Paulo, Tocantins, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Rondônia and the Federal District. All were issued by the 4th Federal Criminal Court of Pará.
The Federal Court also determined the blocking and unavailability of R$ 500 million from the investigated accounts. They also had the hijacking and blocking of five aircraft; suspension of the economic activity of 12 companies; and kidnapping with immovable property blocking of 47 individuals and legal entities, in addition to the kidnapping with blocking of another 14 movable property.
“Investigations began in 2020 and show that the criminal organization operates at three different levels. On the first level there are common miners who extract the gold, without Mining Permit Garimpeira-PLG, and sell to intermediaries, who are on the second level. These, in turn, resell the gold to large companies, which are in the third level, to, in the end, inject it into the national market, or else send it for export. During the investigation, it was found that approximately one ton of illegally extracted gold comes from indigenous lands in the south of Pará every year”, informed a note from the Federal Police.
Active mining in private areas
During the investigations, the police identified the existence of active mining in private areas, which will be searched and apprehended in a joint action with the Public Ministry of Labor. In these places, workers are suspected of being subjected to conditions analogous to slavery.
If the hypotheses are confirmed, the investigated will be liable, to the extent of their responsibilities, for the crime of usurpation of Union assets for exploring raw materials, carrying out research, extracting mineral resources without the competent authorization, for being part of a criminal organization and for the crime of laundering Of money. In addition, they may be liable for other crimes to be investigated such as those provided for in the Environmental Crimes Law.
The name of Operation Terra Desolata refers to an equivalent Italian expression – in Portuguese – to the devastated land, since the gold extracted illegally in the south of Pará is sent to Europe, with Italy as the gateway.
