Troops and bombing raids destroy illegal mining facilities in Orellana and Sucumbíos provinces

More than 1,800 army troops destroyed equipment and buildings at five illegal Amazon gold mines on Friday and Saturday. In addition, air force jets carried out bombing raids on three other mines.

Buildings at an illegal mine in Orellana Province were burned during a Friday army raid.

In Orellana Province, a housing barracks was burned and large excavation equipment was destroyed by troops in the Joya de los Sachas canton. Army command said the mine was one of the largest detected and was operated by Colombians. One man was arrested in the raid and 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel was seized, the army said.

In Puerto Francisco de Orellana, the military destroyed two illegal mining camps and disabled fuel tanker trucks and dredging equipment.

In Sucumbíos Province, troops destroyed mining equipment and a small fuel refinery that provided diesel to mining equipment in the Lago Agrio canton. According to army command, the illegal miners had tapped into a Petroecuador pipeline to extract crude. It added that living quarters, offices and a swimming pool were destroyed at the site.

The government offered little information about the air force bombing raids, saying only that “precision raids” were “successful in destroying mining infrastructure.”

According to an unnamed air force pilot, more surveillance flights and bombing raids are planned against illegal mines, especially in locations difficult for army troops to access. “The miners have equipment that disable drones, so we are forced to conduct surveillance with manned aircraft,” he said.