With decisive operations in the south of the country, Colombian National Army continues its operation against illegal mining, protecting the environment and weakening the finances of the residual armed groups.
Within the framework of the Ayacucho Plus Campaign Plan, troops of the 27th Combat Engineer Battalion, attached to the Twenty-Seventh Brigade, achieved a strategic result through intelligence work and the use of differential resources: the finding and destruction of two illegal mining production units in the Mandur village, in the municipality of Puerto Guzmán.
During the operation, excavators, classifiers, motor pumps, drainage channels, high-pressure hoses and a considerable amount of fuel were disabled, elements used for the illicit exploitation of open-pit mining sites.
This operation generated a loss of more than 1,120 million pesos in constructions and equipment, and prevented the monthly production of approximately 6,000 grams of gold, whose value in the illegal market exceeds 2,298 million pesos. Through this result, the finances of the residual organized armed group E-48 Comandos de Frontera are directly hit, which stops receiving about 229 million pesos as a result of this illicit activity.
Beyond the economic impact, the operation represents a significant work for the protection of the environment. Illegal mining causes severe deforestation, alters the natural landscape and causes serious damage to water sources, soil and air. According to experts, the recovery of the areas hit by these practices may take more than thirty years, which shows the magnitude of the environmental damage mitigated by this military operation.
During the operation, the troops were victims of a sedition carried out by a group of inhabitants pressured by residual structures that commit crimes in the region. In the midst of the aggression, a soldier was injured when he was hit by stones that were thrown at him. Given the risk to the physical condition of the unit, it was necessary to make deterrent shots to the ground to neutralize the situation and work to increase the continuity of the mission.
Source: Press - Sixth Division
