Airborne missions of IVR flew over the region identifying illegal mineral exploration
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is involved in Operation Agate – Uiara Joint Command, with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (IVR) and Logistical Air Transport (TAL) actions, in order to achieve strategic, operational and tactical objectives. In the Agate Uiara Operation, the fight against illegal mineral exploitation is one of the guiding landmarks of the Defense actions. This activity culminates in data collection in the region, where, by means of several IVR aerial missions, overflights over the Japurá river channel, dredges, rafts and pushers were identified in the arms of rivers and lakes.
The Commander of Operation Agate Uiara, Vice-Admiral Thadeu Marcos Orosco Coelho Lobo, spoke about the importance of the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance action in the operation. “Without the intelligence data no action can be executed,” he said. With this, the importance of the data produced by FAB aircraft is verified, when they fulfill the IVR task and transport personnel and material, within the scenario outlined by the Ministry of Defense.
The Liaison Officer of the Component Air Force (FAC), Lieutenant Colonel Edinelson Ferreira de Sena, highlighted the FAB’s action in the Operation. “Immediately, after the arrival of the IVR data, the support team forwards the results to the Amazon Joint Command, which guides the actions on the ground. The seizure of drugs and destruction of dredges are routine in the Operation. This task makes analysis accessible in a region of difficult access, such as the Amazon, and conveys a vision of the work developed by the Armed Forces in favor of national territorial security,” he explained.
In nine days of operations, the Operation removed from circulation equipment valued at R$ 71.3 million. The initiative counts on the participation of 1,320 military personnel from the Brazilian Navy, the Brazilian Army and the Brazilian Air Force, in addition to seven ships, eight vessels and ten aircrafts, to prevent, control, inspect and reprehend trans-border crimes in the region. During the period, narcotics seizures were made, such as marijuana and skunk, totaling 1,115 kg of drugs. This sum of seizures was evaluated by the Federal Police at R$22.3 million.
Agate Operation – Uiara Joint Command
The Japurá River, called Caquetá in Colombia, is a water course that borders Brazil in the state of Amazonas. Along its 2,100 km of navigability in the forest, illegal miners take advantage of the submerged riches and indiscriminately exploit nature and the environment, besides polluting rivers and lakes in the region.
The Armed Forces, under the coordination of the Ministry of Defense, began in early May an Operation in the border strip between Brazil, Peru and Colombia, in cooperation with government agencies and federal, state and municipal bodies. The purpose of the Operation is to combat cross-border and environmental crimes, and to intensify the presence of the Brazilian State in the region.