Illegal mining of minerals at the headwaters of the Pilcomayo River is halted

In a joint operation the illegal exploitation of minerals in a camp adjacent to the community of Paicho Candelaria (Tarija), on the banks of the Camblaya River, which is a tributary of the Pilcomayo River, where the company Bombori SRL operated.

The Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment of the Government of Tarija, Efraín Rivera, confirmed the intervention in this area with the support of the Prosecutor’s Office, the National Police, the State Attorney General’s Office and the AJAM.

According to Rivera, the company Bombori SRL does not have authorization to exploit minerals, mainly gold.

“Yesterday, the Departmental Prosecutor’s Office intervened in response to the lawsuit, jointly with the State Attorney General’s Office in Tarija and the AJAM because was operating without an environmental license”he said.

The departmental prosecutor, Sandra Gutiérez, said that in the mining camp They seized: a dump truck, two backhoes, a mechanical shovel and dieselGutiérez indicated that the company used this machinery and work tools for smelting gold.

“The Public Prosecutor’s Office is carrying out the investigationsCorresponding investigations to identify those responsible. Those who were working at the camp could not be found and statements were taken from a supposed watchman and a woman,” he said.

More than 50 National Police officers took part in the joint intervention, travelling in six vehicles.