Federal police officers served, this Monday (30), a court warrant against a man suspected of setting fire to the Central Plateau Environmental Protection Area. With authorization from the 15th Federal Criminal Court of the Federal District, agents searched the suspect’s residence, where they seized a vehicle allegedly used at the time.
The identity of the target of the police action was not disclosed. In a statement, the PF informs that the man and another suspect, not yet identified, were filmed stopping the vehicle on the side of a highway and setting fire to the vegetation, close to Gama, an administrative region of the Federal District.
The images were recorded on September 25th. It hadn’t rained in the Federal District for more than 150 days. With dry vegetation and heat, the fire spread quickly, destroying an area of more than 380 hectares. The Federal Police launched four investigations to identify those responsible for the fires that consumed part of the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of the Central Plateau and other regions.
If convicted, the suspects could be charged with crimes against the environment, such as causing forest fires, damaging conservation units, among others.
