With this operation it was possible to hit the illicit income of the Héroes de Jesús Carreteras substructure, of the Organized Armed Group, GAO, Clan del Golfo, by more than 700 million pesos, and gives way to environmental recovery in the area.
Soldiers of the Joint Task Force Titan, in the course of a joint operation with the National Navy, the Colombian Air Force and coordinated with the National Police, dealt a serious blow to criminal organizations serving the illicit exploitation of mining deposits, in the village of La Isla, in the municipality of Río Quito, in the department of Chocó.
Seven mining production units, five dragons (type of dredges), an excavator, two dredgers, two engines and other elements that apparently belonged to members of the Heroes de Jesús Carreteras substructure, of the GAO, Clan del Golfo, were disassembled at the site, with which they extracted about 25 kilograms of gold every month, with illicit profits close to 7,000 million pesos.
With the disablement of this machinery, valued at approximately 7,900 million pesos, an illegal monthly income of up to 718 million pesos is prevented, money that is captured by this illegal group, through the modality of “extortion fee” for extraction, financing and purchase of the extracted mineral.
Seven hectares were recovered, where about 6,650 meters of land had been removed and about 14,000 native trees had been deforested. Recovery from environmental damage can take 40 or 50 years.
Source: Press - Seventh Division of the National Army