HomeNewsSmall Aircraft Feed Illegal Mining Operations in Brazil's Amazon
NEWS

Small Aircraft Feed Illegal Mining Operations in Brazil's Amazon

BRAZIL / 6 OCT 2021 BY SCOTT MISTLER-FERGUSON EN

The scale of illegal mining on an Indigenous reserve deep in Brazil’s Amazon has grown so large that fleets of small aircraft are landing on remote airstrips to truck in equipment and haul out illicit gold.

A recent joint campaign by Brazil’s aviation authority (Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil - ANAC) and its environmental protection agency (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis - Ibama) led to the seizure of 66 aircraft suspected of being used in illegal mining operations. Authorities also destroyed nearly 60 clandestine landing strips and five helipads in the Uraricoera River region of the Yanomami reservation in northern Brazil, Ibama officials said in September.

SEE ALSO: Brazil News and Profile

The aircraft provided logistical support to the miners, flying in equipment, fuel and other supplies. Nine aircraft were stripped of seats and retrofitted with metal and plywood structures to facilitate such transport.

“All the aircraft were out of character, with the rear seats removed. Containers of 50 liters would be taken to garimpeiros (illegal miners) in Yanomami territory,” Celso Paiva, of the Federal Police in Roraima, told the Folha de São Paulo newspaper.

Nine of the seized helicopters suspected of being used in illegal mining were linked to air transport companies that had received government money for services that included transporting medical teams to the Yanomami, according to documents obtained by Folha de São Paulo.

InSight Crime Analysis

Small aircraft have become the favored method for moving supplies into the dense jungle of Brazil’s Yanomami reserve. For aircraft owners willing to take the risk, the profits are substantial.

An investigation by Repórter Brasil cited Federal Police estimates that individual pilots who transport cargo and return with illegally sourced gold can earn as much as $37,000 in a single week.

The investigation named the Barra dos Ventos aerodrome, a small airport outside the state capital Boa Vista, as the primary destination for flights entering and exiting the Yanomami reserve. Meanwhile, clandestine airstrips in the Indigenous reserve are common and easily replaced when destroyed. The Association of Yek'uana people told the news outlet that decommissioned airstrips are replaced within two weeks.

SEE ALSO: Brazil's Mining Regulator No Match For Illegal Gold Rush

Given the lack of oversight from Brazil’s aviation authorities, aircraft firms involved in supplying illegal mines often operate with impunity and lack of oversight, according to Repórter Brasil. While these practices predate the current government, they have increased significantly during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro.

Moreover, in January 2021, aviation authorities opened the floodgates even wider for these companies by allowing for “aircraft landing and takeoff operations in unregistered locations located in the Legal Amazon.” The area encompasses nine states, and a portion of Maranhão State, in the country’s northwest. This seemingly blank check to operate has further stoked the gold rush in the Amazon, with as many as 20 flights taking place in a week at one mining site.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BOLIVIA / 8 NOV 2022

Environmental crime is driving deforestation across the Amazon, where some parts are now emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb.

BRAZIL / 30 JUL 2021

There is one crucial quality for any successful wildlife trafficker: tenacity. And Kirill Kravchenko had it in spades.

BRAZIL / 8 NOV 2022

As gold prices have skyrocketed, a boom in mining across the Amazon Basin has flourished, leaving a deep environmental footprint.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.