BRASILIA (Reuters) – Two senior police officers were arrested in Brazil on suspicion that they took bribes and provided security for illegal gold mining activity in the Amazon, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Friday.
Brazilian authorities suspect they were receiving money to overlook and even provide private security for trading of gold illegally extracted from Indigenous lands and conservation areas, the court decision and a federal police statement showed.
Another 36 police officers were removed from their jobs for suspected involvement in the protection scheme, and luxury cars, jewelry, cellphones and an unspecified amount of gold and cash were seized, according to the documents.
Brazil is trying to crack down on illegal gold mining that has surged in recent years, fueled by record high world prices and the absence of enforcement during the country’s previous hard-right government. More than half the gold exported from Brazil is believed to be illegally produced.
The police said it has found “strong evidence” that the gold traded by the criminal organization comes from locations near or within the Munduruku Indigenous land, a reservation in the Amazon rainforest the size of Switzerland.
The two officers with northern Para state’s military police, as well as two businessmen from the gold firm Gana Gold, were preventively arrested on Thursday, the court document said.
Para state military police did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not immediately find representatives from Gana Gold.
The police statement said the firm targeted by the operation had an estimated income of 1.1 billion reais ($182.9 million) between 2020 and 2021, adding that it has already been at the center of other official investigations into illegal mining.
Brazilian authorities earlier this month began an operation to remove illegal gold miners from the Munduruku reservation, where agents found clandestine airstrips used by wildcat miners.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Isabel Teles)
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