This operation was carried out in compliance with Decree 1035 of 2024, which enables the Military Forces to destroy yellow machinery used for illegal purposes.
It is presumed that this machinery would belong to the Residual Organized Armed Group, GAO-r, Structure 6, Jaime Martínez.
The criminals would have diverted the river from its natural course, causing irreparable damage with the dumping of toxic substances and heavy metals.
Working for the protection of natural resources, the Colombian Navy through the Pacific Naval Force, within the framework of a joint operation with Colombian National Army and inter-institutional with the Attorney General's Office, found and destroyed industrial machinery that would be being used by illegal groups, for the illicit extraction of mining deposits in the Valle del Cauca.
On the “La Sierpe" ravine, in Bajo Calima, a rural area of the Buenaventura Special District, units of Navy Infantry Battalion No.21 of the Colombian Navy, troops of the High Mountain Battalion No.3 of Colombian National Army and personnel of the Technical Investigation Corps - CTI (Technical Investigations Corps) of the Attorney General's Office, found and destroyed two backhoes, three industrial engines, a classifier and a dredger, which were part of an illegal rudimentary mining construction and that would be valued at approximately 2,000 million pesos.
It is estimated that the destroyed machinery monthly extracted 3,600 grams of gold, costing 1,260 million pesos, which entered the Residual Organized Armed Group “E6 Jaime Martínez”, to finance their criminal activity in the department of Valle del Cauca.
To commit the crime, the criminals had diverted the river from its natural course, causing irreparable damage with the dumping of toxic substances and heavy metals. It should be noted that illegal mining is one of the main pollutants with mercury from water sources in a country, causing damage to natural ecosystems of great importance, and destroying the environmental components of water, soil, fauna, flora and landscape.
Source: Press - Navy of Colombia
