Ecuadorian Army targets illegal mining with major machinery seizures

The Ecuadorian Army has conducted several military operations across the Amazon region to combat illegal mining, resulting in the seizure and disabling of heavy machinery worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The operations targeted sectors in the Napo, Pastaza, and Morona Santiago provinces, specifically within the cantons of Tena, Arosemena Tola, Arajuno, Taisha, and Mera.

In the Napo province, military forces neutralized a clandestine camp and seized equipment including excavators, Z-type classifiers, suction pumps, and several fuel tanks. In Pastaza, authorities disabled an excavator and impounded a dump truck with a trailer. Total economic damage to illicit mining operations is estimated to be significant, with individual reports citing impacts ranging from $270,000 to nearly $600,000 across different phases of the intervention.

The rise in illegal mining is attributed to the quadrupling of gold prices over the last decade, which has driven armed groups to shift from cocaine production to gold extraction. Experts note that approximately 77% of gold produced in Ecuador is estimated to be illegal, facilitated by the ease of acquiring heavy machinery through informal markets.