In the Toche village, rural area of the capital city of the department of Tolima, thanks to a joint operation conducted by the Colombian Air Force, from the Air Combat Command No. 4, CACOM4, the Sixth Brigade of the National Army, Brigade against Illegal Mining, BRCMI and troops of Infantry Battalion No.18 Coronel Jaime Rooke, in coordination with the National Police of Carabineros del Tolima and with inter-agency support of the CTI (Technical Investigations Corps) of the Prosecutor's Office, it was possible to capture 11 people, alleged members of a criminal structure called Los Empresarios, for the crimes of environmental contamination and illicit exploitation of a mining deposit and other materials.
The judicial procedure in which the environmental authority of Cortolima in the same way participated, was carried out in the Toche village, rural area of Ibagué (Tolima) where, through intelligence of the Security forces, it was learned that the group had been exercising that illegal activity in the lands of the farm La Empresa, disproportionately damaging approximately 10 hectares on which they built a mining complex for the illegal extraction of gold.
In the inter-institutional operation, it was possible to find a large amount of machinery and its own elements to carry out the illegal activity. Three sedimentation ponds with dimensions of 2 x 2 m2 are built in the complex in order to store the final washing material for the chemical cyanidation process or MacArthur-Forrest process.
Several sludge wells were observed in the lateral part of the area, which are discharged to the water source, which is considered a serious contamination. In the same way, eight processing ground holes, eight filtration plants, 11 14 hp diesel engines, six drills, three electric motors, two water pumps, three power generators, a saw, 32 fuel drums, an electric welder, a California-type shredder, two accumulation tables, 26 granulators, and explosives, were found and destroyed under controlled conditions by the anti-explosives group of the CTI.
The accused were put into custody of the authority for the crimes already described.
With this result, the illicit activities of the Common Criminality are hit, whose monthly production in this place was $ 3,200,000,000 pesos; the recovery of the environment is calculated by $ 350,000,000 pesos.
With these important results, this crime that hits natural resources is heavily impacted.
Source: Press - Colombian Air Force
