It is presumed that this machinery would belong to the Residual Organized Armed Group Jaime Martínez.
The criminals would be causing irreparable damage to the water sources of the region, through the dumping of toxic substances and heavy metals.
Through this powerful operation it was possible to find and destroy heavy machinery, valued at 1,800 million pesos.
Working for the protection of natural resources, the Colombian Navy through the Pacific Naval Force, within the framework of a joint and coordinated operation with Colombian National Army, the Colombian Aerospace Force and the Police, found and destroyed industrial machinery that would be being used by illegal groups, for the illicit extraction of mining deposits, in department of Valle del Cauca.
In Zaragoza and Los Córdoba, on the Dagua River, rural area of the Special District of Buenaventura, units of the Navy Infantry Battalion No. 21, together with National Army troops and members of the Police Military Forces, arrived at the National Protective Forest Reserve, of the Escalerete and San Cipriano rivers watershed, where they found and destroyed three backhoes, a dredger, three motor pumps, an industrial engine and two industrial electricity generators, which were part of an illegal non-artisanal mining construction, which would be valued at approximately 1,800 million pesos.
It is estimated that the destroyed machinery annually extracted 18,000 grams of gold, by 5,400 million pesos, which entered the finances of the Residual Organized Armed Group Jaime Martínez, to finance its criminal activity in the department of Valle del Cauca.
The criminals would be causing irreparable damage to this main river artery, with the monthly dumping of approximately 55 kilograms of mercury, harming the natural reserves, ecosystems and water sources of the region.
Troops continue to counteract the serious pollution caused by these mining production units, which generate direct damage to the Dagua River, due to the indiscriminate use of mercury and cyanide. It is estimated that 1,600 cubic meters of soil were removed, in an area of 3.5 hectares, in addition to the deforestation of approximately 2,100 native trees.
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
