Venezuelan military They seized materials and equipment used in illegal mining in the state of Amazonas. So it reported this Sunday the strategic operational commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB), Domingo Hernández Lárez.
Through a publication on Instagram, the military chief indicated that they seized two hammer mills, three motorcycles, and a motor pump. Also 60 meters of plastic hose, 175 liters of gasoline and 200 meters of black canvas.
“All the material and equipment were incinerated at the scene, for serving as logistical support for the depredation of the environment in illegal mining activities, prohibited by the Venezuelan State,” he added.
The materials were found in an area of the Atabapo municipality, said Hernández Lárez, who did not specify if there were any detainees in the operation.
Operations against illegal mining
On November 13, the FANB destroyed materials and equipment used for illegal mining in Amazonas, as reported by Hernández Lárez.
The official then stated that they found 800 liters of gasoline, two water suction motors, 362 meters of hose and other materials that they destroyed.
According to a mapping by the Andean Amazon Monitoring Project (MAAP), prepared together with the NGO SOS Orinoco, since 2020, illegal gold mining has deforested a total of 2,240 hectares of the Yapacana National Park, in Amazonas, which slowed down, especially last year.
In recent years, the FANB has carried out operations in Yapacana that have resulted in arrests, the expulsion of thousands of people identified as “illegal miners”, the seizure of belongings and equipment used for the activity and the destruction of camps.
However, SOS Orinoco warns that deforestation has “increased again in the second half of 2025, when new mines have been revealed on the top of Cerro Yapacana.”
