Overview
- Interpol and national authorities announced on Wednesday that Operation Madre Tierra VIII produced 233 arrests and identified roughly 60,000 hectares of illegally cleared forest across nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.
- A Colombia-led investigation within the operation found 11 foreign companies tied to more than 52,000 hectares of protected Amazon forest and linked an additional 161 companies and 65 people across continents.
- Law enforcement seized large quantities of mining chemicals and wildlife, including about 4.6 metric tons of cyanide, multiple containers of mercury, more than 1,000 live animals and 165 kilograms of dried shark fins.
- Investigators say they uncovered suspected permit fraud and use of shell companies and foreign investment vehicles, with Colombian authorities arresting 16 people and seizing digital evidence while Interpol issued international notices to trace financiers.
- The operation builds on earlier cross-border crackdowns and signals a shift to following financial flows because illegal gold mining and timber trafficking are driving deforestation, spreading mercury pollution, and linking to wider organized-crime routes that harm rivers, communities and biodiversity.