Colombia dismantles criminal network responsible for 52,000‑hectare deforestation

The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development announced that a task force led by the National Council for the Fight against Deforestation and Environmental Crimes (CONALDEF) captured 17 people linked to a criminal organization that deforested more than 52,000 hectares and illegally occupied 165,678 hectares of state land in Meta. Among those arrested was former mayor of Mapiripán, Jorge Iván Duque Lenis. The group seized 60 public lands, opened 68 km of illegal roads, and impacted protected areas including the Cordillera de los Picachos, Tinigua, Sierra de la Macarena, Nukak National Reserve and Serranía de Chiribiquete. Environment minister Irene Vélez warned that the network exemplifies the scale of illicit economies destroying nature. On the same day authorities also ordered the capture of Italian entrepreneur Carlo Vigna Taglianti, head of the Italo‑Spanish agribusiness Poligrow, accused of leading the illicit operation and facing charges of ecocide, illegal resource exploitation, criminal conspiracy and procedural fraud.