These seven people were apprehended and gold extraction equipment seized in the municipality of Tesalia, in a new blow by the authorities to illegal mining. The Cacique Pigoanza Infantry Battalion, in collaboration with the Air Force, the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office, and with the support of the Alto Magdalena Regional Autonomous Corporation (CAM), made the arrests in the village of Potrero Grande.
Military spokesmen said that to extract the gold, the illegal miners had removed approximately 600 trees and 16,500 square meters of soil. “The recovery and conservation of the affected area would require work that would take about 30 years to complete.”
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The spokesman said that during the operation a backhoe, a sorter, two motor pumps and a power plant were seized. It is estimated that an average of 6 kilos of gold are extracted each month, with a value of more than 1,600 million pesos. He went on to say that the seven people arrested for the crimes of contamination of mining deposits and damage to natural resources were made available to the corresponding authorities.
The prosecutor took them to preliminary hearings before the guarantee judge, who ordered a non-custodial arrest measure, so they must continue to be linked to the process.