Interpol announces a new global fight against illegal deforestation
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Interpol and partners launched a global law enforcement effort Wednesday aimed at dismantling criminal networks behind illegal logging, timber trafficking and gold mining, which drive large-scale deforestation and generate billions in illicit profits each year.
The effort announced ahead of the U.N. COP30 climate summit in Brazil will focus mainly on tropical forests in Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Peru.
“Criminals are making billions by looting the planet’s forests,” Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said in a statement. “The only way to stop them is through determined law enforcement action and strong international cooperation.”
This latest phase of the Law Enforcement Assistance Program to Reduce Tropical Deforestation was announced in Rio de Janeiro during the United for Wildlife Global Summit. It is led by Interpol, the international police organization that helps national authorities coordinate and share intelligence, together with the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. It is funded by Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative.
The announcement follows a major crackdown in the Amazon Basin last week, when Brazilian police, supported by Interpol, destroyed more than 270 illegal mining dredges operating on the Madeira River. Authorities said the raids dealt a significant blow to criminal groups linked to gold-smuggling networks that span Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.
UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly said illegal deforestation “weakens the rule of law and finances organized crime,” adding that the joint initiative seeks to ensure offenders are held accountable while supporting justice systems and local communities.
Launched in 2018, LEAP has evolved from mapping timber-trafficking routes to coordinating cross-border investigations and seizing millions of dollars in illicit wood and minerals. Interpol-led operations in Latin America have uncovered hundreds of environmental crimes, including the destruction of hundreds of illegal gold-mining dredges in the Brazilian Amazon and dozens of arrests across nine countries for logging and wildlife trafficking.
Its new phase expands that work to target illegal mining in the Amazon Basin, now a leading cause of deforestation and mercury pollution, and to enhance intelligence-sharing among enforcement agencies.
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.