No Investigated Amazon Deforester Has Been Convicted in Past Five Years

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) of the Amazon Task Force says that impunity encourages the practice of crimes in the region. Since 2014, ten major operations have been carried out, but no one has been arrested.

According to Federal Prosecutors, no major deforester investigated by the Amazon task force has been convicted by the courts over the past five years. The fight against illegal deforestation in the Amazon had ten major operations from 2014 to the present day.

According to prosecutor Daniel Azeredo, the loss resulting from environmental crimes in Brazil amounts to R$9 (US$2.25) billion. The computation takes into account the deforestation data recorded by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and the market value of the devastated lands.

According to Azeredo, impunity is a driving force behind the practice of crimes in the Amazon. In addition, the penalties for this type of crime are deemed low and do not lead to imprisonment.

“Environmental crime in the Amazon is not an isolated crime; it is part of a larger network of criminal organizations. We have several criminal organizations based there with a modus operandi similar to that of drug trafficking, and those engaged in human trafficking,” he says.

Deaths in defense of the forest

The prosecutor emphasizes that this type of crime can be connected to money laundering, fiscal crimes, corruption of public servants, document fraud, threats to traditional populations and even crimes against life.

“We know that Brazil has the highest number of homicides against people who defend the forest and the environment, and the Amazon is recurrent in this type of case. So you can’t fight environmental crime in isolation, and you can’t even think that it’s just an environmental issue.”

Operation Rios Voadores (“Flying Rivers”)

In 2016, Operation Rios Voadores, of the Federal Police in Pará, uncovered a criminal organization specializing in illegal land grabbing and deforestation.

In a conversation intercepted by the task force, a labor agent, identified as Jerônimo, talks to the main suspect, Antonio José Filho, about clearing almost 100 hectares of forest. The information is from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) in Belém.

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