Authorities have documented several points on the Micay River, in the department of Cauca, where members of this gang would be carrying out illegal exploitation of mining deposits.
Despite the fact that, in Cali, a few kilometers of there, the COP16, the largest and most important environmental summit in the world, is being held, according to searches that are carried out periodically and constantly, the Military Forces have identified the areas where, in the Micay Canyon, serious environmental damage has been being done to this important water source from which several communities supplied such as San Juan de Mechengue, El Plateado, La Emboscada, La Honduras, among others.
What has been evidenced is that the individuals would be using indiscriminately and without any control or awareness or care yellow machinery, huge dredges, engines, as well as chemicals such as mercury and cyanide, which are highly toxic and harmful to human life.
The photographs and videos captured by cutting-edge technology by the Military Forces reflect the environmental and silent crime that has spread beyond the bed of the Micay River. The yellow machinery, which they deceive the media by saying is for roads, has diverted the natural course of the river and turned the crystal clear and flowing water into a dark and stagnant substance that annihilates the animal and plants life that depends on it.
The damage that has been caused by the dissidents, whose top ringleader is alias Ivan Mordisco, is such that “pools” have already been formed in several areas where the water has taken on strange colors, evidencing the use of chemicals which represents a serious risk for the inhabitants, as well as for the flora and fauna of this region between the municipalities of Argelia, El Tambo and López de Micay harming more than 16 thousand people who live there.
In order to disguise this crime and prevent judicial operations and the military operation against these illegal groups and against inhabitants who support these crimes, the dissidents have chosen to use the inhabitants to prevent the arrival of the troops, even to pressure them to inform if they see movements of vehicles or aircraft, and in this way to be able to move the machinery and hide it to prevent the operations that have been planned. In the same way, this gang would be constraining the communities so that through protests they demand the departure of the Military Forces and the “non-militarization” of the territory, this with the aim of recovering the lost terrain and being able to take back control of all the illegal income they had.
They would in the same way be placing machinery on the roads near the bed of the Micay River, to give it an appearance of legality, and argue that they are conducting maintenance tasks and works on the road. It should be noted that this was the initial deception with which the dissidents brought the machinery to this area, saying that they would be used for work for the benefit of the communities.
In contrast, it as has already been seen in several videos and photographs, these machines are used to hit and depredate the water sources and green areas that this area of the South Pacific of the department of Cauca has.
The damage generated by this criminal practice against the environment, wildlife and human life is estimated at more than 100 hectares along the bed of the Micay River, and it is a serious damage that can hardly be repaired in a short time. In the same way, this illegal group would be obtaining about 8 and ten thousand grams of gold monthly, which would be generating criminal profits of at least 7,000 million pesos for the Carlos Patiño structure of the FARC dissidents.
Source: Press – National Army
