The Colombian Navy in a joint operation with troops of the National Army, coordinated with the National Police and inter-institutional with the Attorney General's Office, dealt a severe blow to the dissidents of the FARC intervening and deactivating two illegal mines used for the illicit exploitation of gold mining deposits on the Llano Bajo sector, rural area of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, 22 kilometers from the urban center of the City port.
During the operation it was possible to find and subsequently destroy three backhoes, two industrial engines, five motor pumps, three classification machines and a dredger, and troops recovered six hectares of land were being used for the illegal extraction of minerals.
These illegal mines belonging to the Residual Structure 6 Jaime Martinez of the dissidents of the Farc, as well as the destroyed machinery, valued at around 2 billion pesos, were neutralized preventing this criminal organization from receiving monthly income by more than 170 million pesos, which hits its capacity for coercion on the civilians, its intended expansion and the environmental damage caused by its illegal activities.
It should be noted that illegal mining is one of the largest sources of environmental pollution in the Colombian Pacific because it is carried out without any control or consideration by the ecosystem, toxic elements such as mercury, used for gold extraction, are discarded indiscriminately near water sources or communities, which poses a high risk to the flora and fauna of the region, since it generates extensive environmental degradation and produces adverse effects that can last for several decades after the cessation of mining activities.
According to studies published by the World Health Organization, exposure and ingestion of mercury has devastating effects on the people as it can cause neurological and behavioral disorders, and children of pregnant mothers exposed to this heavy metal can present problems on cognitive thinking, memory, concentration, language skills and motor and space-visual fine movements.
