Federal Police launch operation against illegal mining finances at Yanomami Indigenous Land

The Federal Police (PF) launched Operation Taurus Aureus on Tuesday morning, September 3, to disrupt the logistics and financing of criminal organizations engaged in illegal mining at Yanomami lands.

The operation served 15 search and seizure warrants and 5 preventive arrest warrants in the states of Roraima and Rondônia. In addition to the arrests, the Court granted the Federal Police's seizure requests, which strongly impacts the financing of mining logistics.

The seizure and freezing of various assets, including vehicles and a rural property, seek compensation for the immeasurable environmental damage caused by this criminal activity.

The measures are linked to Operation Libertação [Operation Liberation], an ongoing effort that began in February 2023 to combat illegal mining and clear the Yanomami Indigenous Land [Terra Indígena Yanomami] of invaders.

In addition to the action at the Yanomami Indigenous Land, during the first 18 months of the Federal Government's action, three disintrusion operations were completed in Pará – Alto do Rio Guamá, Apyterewa, and Trincheira do Bacajá – and one in Rondônia, at the Karipuna Indigenous Land. The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (Ministério dos Povos Indígenas/MPI) has set a priority target of 32 operations to be completed by the end of 2026.

Illegal mining at Yanomami Indigenous Land decreased by 91.6% between March and August of this year and the same period in 2022. According to data collected by the Government House in Roraima, illegal mining affects 26% of the Indigenous Land's 9.6 million hectares.

In March 2024, active mining covered 4,570 hectares, with 2.6 million hectares affected by mining activities. By August of this year, these figures had been reduced to 1,500 hectares and 916,000 hectares, respectively. The estimated loss to mining financiers in Yanomami territory due to seizures, fines, and equipment destruction is BRL 163 million [approximately USD 32.6 million].

PROMOTING AUTONOMY — Since the inauguration of the Yanomami Government House in Boa Vista on February 29, a total of 1,409 security operations have taken place. These operations resulted in the seizure and destruction of 19 aircraft, over 86,000 liters of diesel oil, 617 engines, 70 Starlink antennas, 75 tons of cassiterite, and 10,848 kilos of gold. During this time, 80 people were arrested.

The primary goal is to combat the logistics used by criminals to gain access to the riches of Brazil's largest Indigenous land, located in the Amazon. In the coming months, the Federal Government intends to consolidate the removal of invaders, expand public policies, and promote the Yanomami's autonomy, particularly in terms of health and food security.

The government has already seen a sharp drop in illegal activity, as well as a 40% increase in costs for illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, imposed by the task force that has been dismantling the criminal infrastructure.