Peru’s military tries to curb illegal gold mining in Amazon
By day, Peruvian police and soldiers search for and destroy equipment used by illegal gold miners in a part of the Amazon rainforest where mining has transformed once-dense foliage into a desert pocked with dead trees and toxic pools. As night falls, they play cards and soccer, call family from their remote outpost or have a medic pluck burrowing parasites from their feet.
For a decade, a gold rush accelerated in Peru's Tambopata province, a center for an illicit activity that is among the most lucrative, and destructive, in the Amazonian wilderness. Security forces came and went; miners scattered and returned. Then Peru announced something different: It installed long-term military bases in hopes of curbing not just illegal mining but also human trafficking and other associated crimes.
In this April 1, 2019 photo, soldiers wait for the arrival of a helicopter bringing supplies and replacements, on a makeshift airstrip of the Balata police and military base in Peru's Tambopata province. Peru has installed military bases in the province in hopes of curbing not just illegal mining but also human trafficking and other associated crimes. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A soldier hacks with a machete tubing used by illegal miners to mine gold, as part of "Operation Mercury" on March 27, 2019, in Peru’s Tambopata province. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
In this April 1, 2019 photo, returning to their home base soldiers load their television in to a military helicopter, on a makeshift airstrip at the Balata military and police base in Peru's Tambopata province. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
In this March 27, 2019 photo, "Operation Mercury" soldiers patrol on motorbikes an area once used by illegal miners, in Peru’s Tambopata province. Peruvian police and soldiers search for and destroy equipment used by illegal gold miners in a part of the Amazon rainforest where the mining transformed dense foliage into a desert pocked with dead trees and toxic pools. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
"Operation Mercury" special forces patrol an area after the destruction of machinery used by illegal miners in the Tambopata province, one of three that make up the Madre de Dios department, March 27, 2019, in southern Peru. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
"Operation Mercury" began in February when authorities evicted thousands of illegal gold miners from the area and deployed hundreds of police and soldiers for the long term, lodging them in some cases in the same makeshift quarters once used by gold dealers. The men in uniform regularly patrol in vehicles and on motorcycles, though some miners emerge at night and there are concerns that others will wait for the military presence to subside, or simply relocate to more remote areas.
"As many miners tell me, these interventions just push miners into areas further and further into the rainforest, because they want to prevent being caught," said Jimena Diaz Leiva, a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley who has studied the illegal industry.
She also said the small-scale miners feel ignored and vilified by a government that they say has shown little interest in their economic wellbeing and whose initiatives to bring them into the legal mining industry have not been effective.
What is certain is the devastation left behind — partly because of the mercury used to separate gold from debris during excavation. Tens of thousands of acres (hectares) of rainforest have been destroyed.
"The damage to nature here is so terrible that all the water is poisoned," said Maj. Gustavo Cerdeña, head of a police unit.
Cerdeña said he had come to the area before the law enforcement operation began in February, posing as a gold buyer in order to gather intelligence on the criminal syndicate dominating the illegal trade.
"It was full of people. It was like Gomorrah before it rained fire," he said, referring to the biblical city's destruction. "Now everything is quieter."
A memorial adorned with artificial flowers and bottles of alcohol inside a former illegal gold mining camp that has been occupied by special forces and converted into the Balata police and military base, March 28, 2019, in Peru’s Tambopata province. The base now occupied by security forces is surrounded by two lakes contaminated with mercury, as well as debris left over by miners. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Members of the special force unit known by its Spanish acronym DINOES, rest at the Balata police and military base in Peru’s Tambopata province on March 31, 2019, framed by two signs with messages that read in Spanish: “God forgives, DINOES do not", on left, and " Oh DINOES, If I die fear not, my blood will give birth to a thousand poems.“ (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
"Operation Mercury" policemen question a wildcat miner near the Mega 12 police base in Peru's Tambopata province, April 3, 2019. The operation began in February when authorities evicted thousands of illegal gold miners from the area and deployed hundreds of police and soldiers for longer terms. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Police officer Julio Garcia polishes his boots inside a dwelling once used by illegal miners, now known as part of the Balata military and police base on March 31, 2019, in Peru’s Tambopata province. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Police officers rise early in the morning at the Balata police and military base on March 31, 2019, in Peru's Tambopata province. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Maj. Gustavo Cerdeña does pull-ups using the wood frame of a structure at the Balata police and military base, once an illegal gold mining camp, March 31, 2019, in Peru’s Tambopata province. Cerdeña said he had come to the booming area before the start of "Operation Mercury", in February. "It was full of people, it was like Gomorrah before it rained fire," he said, referring to the notorious city's destruction in the Bible. "Now everything is quieter." (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Police special forces stand next to illegal mining machinery, April 1, 2019, in Peru’s Tambopata province. As part of "Operation Mercury", Peruvian police and soldiers search for and destroy equipment used by illegal gold miners in a part of the Amazon rainforest where the mining transformed dense foliage into a desert pocked with dead trees and toxic pools. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The area known as "La Pampa," which surrounds a national park and doesn't appear on state maps, has yielded roughly 25 tons of illegally mined gold a year, much more than the output of Yanacocha, Peru's most productive legal gold mine, according to the Peruvian government. Peru is the No. 1 producer of gold in Latin America.
It is a pattern being repeated to varying degrees elsewhere in the Amazon, including in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.
Fueled by rising global prices for gold, illegal mining destroyed 92,000 square miles (238,000 square kilometers) of forest between 2000 and 2015, according to the Amazonian Network of GeoReferenced Socio-Environmental Information, a coalition of non-government groups that analyzed data from the Amazon in nine countries. The use of hundreds of tons of toxic mercury in illegal mining across the continent has raised concerns about health problems on affected land, some of which is occupied by indigenous people.
The military bases in La Pampa will remain at least through mid-2021, when the term of the current government ends.
"Operation Mercury" soldiers arrive for their new assignment stand in a dust cloud on a makeshift airstrip on April 1, 2019, at the Balata police and military base in Peru's Tambopata province, as the helicopter that brought them returns to the home base. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
An illegal mining camp destroyed by members of "Operation Mercury", is seen in this March 27, 2019, photo, in Peru’s Tambopata province. "The damage to nature here is so terrible that all the water is poisoned," said Maj. Gustavo Cerdeña, head of a police unit. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A police officer smiles while riding in a pick-up truck, April 3, 2019, during a patrol in Peru’s Tambopata province. The area known by miners as "La Pampa," which surrounds a national park and doesn't appear on state maps, has yielded roughly 25 tons of illegally mined gold a year, much more than the legally produced amount in the same area, according to the Peruvian government. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
"Operation Mercury" soldiers play soccer at the Balata police and military base, March 31, 2019, in Peru's Tambopata province. As night falls, they play cards, watch television and call family from their remote outpost. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Shows an aerial view of thousands of destroyed hectares of Amazon jungle by illegal miners, March 26, 2019, in the Tambopata province, one of three that make up Peru's Madre de Dios department. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Police officers talk with family from their remote outpost outside the Balata military and police base, March 31, 2019, in Peru's Tambopata province. The base, once an illegal gold mining camp, is occupied by "Operation Mercury" security forces and is surrounded by two lakes contaminated with mercury, as well as debris left over by miners. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Soldiers watch a nature show in their tent at the Balata military and police base, March 31, 2019, in Peru’s Tambopata province. The base is surrounded by two lakes contaminated with mercury, as well as debris left over by miners. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A night view of the Balata police and military base is seen March 31, 2019, at the Balata police and military base, illuminated by electric generators, in Peru's Tambopata province. The area known by miners as "La Pampa," which surrounds a national park and doesn't appear on state maps, has yielded roughly 25 tons of illegally mined gold a year, much more than the legally produced amount in the same area, according to the Peruvian government. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
One base occupied by security forces is surrounded by two lakes contaminated with mercury as well as debris left by miners. There are abandoned shops, and a small memorial site for a dead miner, marked with artificial flowers and bottles of alcohol. A few dogs and cats wander around the bleak landscape.
The police and soldiers occasionally find machinery used by the illegal miners, and blow it up with dynamite. They also destroy metal tubing used to mine gold.
Ernesto Ráez, a biology professor in the Peruvian capital of Lima, said it would take generations to restore and reforest areas affected by mining.
"It will take more than a lifetime to see a forest comparable to the one that was destroyed," he said. "But it's worth it."
Text from the AP News story, Peru's military tries to curb illegal gold mining in Amazon, by Franklin Briceno.
Photos by Rodrigo Abd