Ecuador, Peru raid illegal mining operations

The governments of both Ecuador and Peru carried out operations against illegal mining, part of a region-wide crackdown on the sector.

Ecuadorian police arrested four miners and seized 720 sacks of mineral, trucks, jackhammers and two-way radio equipment in Tungurahua province in the central highlands, the mining ministry said in a statement.

The governments of Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Colombia have begun joint efforts in recent years at combating illegal mining along their border areas, blamed for pollution, deforestation, white slave trade, corruption and money laundering. Illegal mining is believed to generate US$200bn in revenue worldwide, according to the Better Gold Initiative.

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno, who took office in May 2017, seeks to formalize the country's estimated 40,000 informal miners as the country lines up billions of dollars in large-scale mining projects by companies including EcuaCorriente, Lundin Gold, INV Metals, EcuaGold Mining and China Explorcobres.

Andean region

Elsewhere in the region, Peruvian police and officials from the special prosecutor's office arrested 22 members of an illegal mining organization after carrying out raids on 20 properties in five regions, Lima-based newspaper Peru21 reported.

The organization, known as dorados del oriente, which included three police officers, exported illegally extracted gold to the Middle East, according to the newspaper.

In neighboring Colombia, illegal miners and other illicit activities were blamed for the deforestation of 219,973ha of jungle last year, up from 179,000ha in 2016, according to the institute of hydrology, meteorology and environmental studies (Ideam).

President Juan Manuel Santos, who is scheduled to step down in August after a second round of presidential elections on June 17, launched a drive to formalize informal miners known as barequeros. Small-scale mining accounts for 70% of the operations in the country.

In Bolivia, meanwhile, mining cooperatives such as Fecnabol and Lambade criticized state mining administrative agency Ajam for failing to halt tax evasion and over-extraction by Chinese firms, according to La Paz-based Eju TV.