In 2023, 62 people have been arrested for the crime of illegal exploitation in the region. With these activities an irreparable damage to the ecosystem is caused by the pollution of the Cauca River, one of the most important in Colombia, which supplies the people of Caldas.
Within the framework of the Ayacucho Plan and the execution of coordinated works, the Infantry Battalion N°22 Batalla de Ayacucho, in support of BASEC5, the Brigade Against Mining, Carabineros Police, the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Prosecutor's Office and the Environmental Corporation of Caldas, Corpocaldas, arrested twelve people in flagrante delicto in the village Jaguero, municipality of Riosucio, department of Caldas, for the crime of illicit exploitation of mining deposits.
These individuals used a cubic type system for the extraction of alluvial gold. With the intelligence work, the troops found and arrested the individuals while they were using elements in an illegal way. In the operation two demolishers were found by troops, and a three-phase motor, a classifier, 4 industrial drills, 300 meters of electric cable, 10 meters of PVC pipe, 70 meters of rope, a ton and a half of extracted mineral material, 30 wooden levers and 300 meters of wire rope for extraction, among other elements, that would cost approximately 450 million pesos.
This result contributes to the protection of the Cauca River, whose loss due to intervention at this point was valued at about 565 million pesos. It is estimated that about 570 grams of gold would be extracted monthly in this illegal mining production unit, which is equivalent to an average income per sale of 160 million pesos per month.
The detainees were put into custody of the authorities and the material was destroyed on site.
The illegal exploitation of minerals in the upper West of Caldas has been carried out without the mining title stipulated in Law 685 of 2001 of the Mining Code, which has hit not only natural resources, but the well-being and security of the families who live and legally benefit of the Cauca River.
The Ayacucho Battalion, of the Eighth Brigade, civil, judicial and environmental authorities continue to monitor the mining realities of the Caldas territory, the implementation of alternatives to counteract all practices of contamination of the water resource, the loss of plant specimens and the life of the Caldas people.
Source: Press - Fifth Division of Colombian National Army
