According to preliminary investigations, this machine would belong to the Organized Armed Group, GAO, Clan del Golfo.
The Colombian Navy, in the framework of joint operations with Colombian National Army and coordinated with the National Police, seized 25 units of machinery used for the illicit exploitation of mining deposits in the Atrato River, in the department of Chocó.
The result was made possible thanks to the strength of the military operation of the troops of the Navy Infantry River Battalion No.16, and Colombian National Army, which together with members of the Military Forces of the National Police are carrying out control and surveillance work in the river arteries of the area, and who on this occasion identified that mining sites were being exploited in this area of the country without the permits required by current regulations.
Troops found two excavators that were being towed without having the regulatory documentation required by Law 1242 of 2008; in the same way, in a second river control operation, 23 diver-type dredgers were found by troops already planted and ready to be used in activities of illegal exploitation of mining deposits.
By means of this machinery, activities of exploration and illegal exploitation of minerals were carried out, causing serious damage to the environment and pollution of this important water tributary of the country; the material found was put into custody of the authorities. No arrests were made during the operations.
The Colombian Navy reaffirms once again its commitment to the protection of the environment, in the frontal fight against the factors of instability, such as organized Armed Groups and people who commit crimes in the zone of work of the Navy Infantry Brigade No.1, to protect the inhabitants along the Atrato River.
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
