The Brazilian Army gets ready to deploy during Operation Ágata 4, which seeks to combat smuggling and environmental crimes in the country’s northern border by increasing patrols in the Amazon, the Ministry of Defense said on May 11. (Paulo Santos/Reuters)
Operation Ágata 4 consists of 8,600 civilian and military troops, 11 boats, nine helicopters and 27 aircraft. The operation will cover the borders with Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana – more than 3,106 miles (5,000 kilometers). Above, the Oiapoque River separates a Brazilian village (L) from Camopi in French Guiana. (Paulo Santos/Reuters)
Operation Ágata 4 which began on May 2, “has as a main objective to maintain a more effective presence in the state of Brazil. From now on, the country’s armed forces will have information on these regions,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Above, soldiers acknowledge a briefing from their commanding officer before they begin patrolling the Oiapoque River on May 8. (Paulo Santos/Reuters)
Brazilian soldiers patrol for drug traffickers, arms smugglers and illegal logging and mining activity using helicopters and aircrafts along Brazil’s northern border shared with four countries. (Paulo Santos/Reuters)
In two days, 10 clandestine airstrips used to smuggle weapons, drugs and gold were found near the “Yanomami” indigenous communities along the Brazilian-Venezuelan border. Two of the airstrips are scheduled to be destroyed next week, according to the Ministry of Defense. (Paulo Santos/Reuters)
Authorities question a worker found in the forest near a goldmine. Shovels, plastic boots, pipes and makeshift shelters were also found in the surrounding area. (Paulo Santos/Reuters)
Brazilian Army officers and Federal Police reach the goldmine, where the “removal of land and deforestation [is obvious] and totally illegal,” a federal agent said. In operations similar to Ágata 4 conducted last year, Brazil seized more than 115 tons of drugs and 534 firearms and made a little more than 4,000 arrests, officials said. (Paulo Santos/Reuters)
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