In a joint operation in Altamira, Huila department, authorities dismantled an illegal open-pit mine along with four arrests and finding of machinery.
In a joint, coordinated and inter-institutional operation, soldiers of the Special Energy and Road Battalion N.° 12, of the Ninth Brigade, and the Civil Security Battalion N.° 5, in coordination with the Police of Huila; the Air Combat Command N.° 4, of the Colombian Aerospace Force, and the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Alto Magdalena – CAM, reported an important blow against the illicit exploitation of mining deposits in the village El Puente, municipality of Altamira, department of Huila.
During the intervention, an open-pit mining production unit was dismantled, it was also reported the arrest of four people and the finding of two backhoes and two dump trucks, machinery used for the illegal extraction of mineral material.
Through this result, damage valued at 700 million pesos was caused to prevent criminal structures from obtaining about 280 million pesos per month and more than 3360 million pesos per year.
The operation in the same way represents an important step in the protection of the environment, since illegal exploitation was generating deforestation, landscape alteration, soil removal and serious damage to air, water and soil components, impacts whose recovery time is estimated at more than 30 years.
Source: Press – Ninth Brigade
