Manaus (AM) – The JACUIXITO Operation, conducted by the Amazon Military Command through the 16th Jungle Infantry Brigade, destroyed five illegal mining rafts in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land on March 31. The action was carried out with the support of the Brazilian Army and IBAMA agents.
The illegal vessels were located after an intelligence survey and their positions were confirmed by river patrols in the Jandiatuba River and the Boa Vista Igarapé. Each raft is valued at approximately R$ 600,000 and is capable of extracting about 2.5 kilograms of gold per month, yielding more than R$ 800,000 in the illegal market. The damage caused to mining activity in the region is therefore close to R$ 7 million in a single month of activity. The troops of the Amazon Military Command intensified patrols in the region of the Javari Valley in early March, when logistical resources were deployed to the region.
The objective of the JACUIXITO Operation is to strengthen the presence of the Army in the region, preventing and fighting trans-border and environmental crimes such as illegal mining, fishing and hunting, drug and weapons trafficking, and timber extraction.
“Helping hand”
Besides the operational activity, the Brazilian Army has made an effort to offer services to the local population. The Mayuruna, Marubo, Matis and Kanamari indigenous ethnic groups received medical and dental assistance in the municipality of Atalaia do Norte (situated 1,138 km as the crow flies from Manaus-AM) and in the Massapê Village, located in the extreme west of the Amazon, on the banks of the Itaquaí River, in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land. In all, 827 consultations and 1,706 procedures were performed, including vaccination and laboratory tests. There were professionals from various specialties, such as pediatrics, gynecology, mastology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, and tropical dermatology, besides general medicine.
Future actions and permanent activities
For the coming months, the Amazon Military Command plans to invest even more in monitoring and intelligence technologies, especially in the Special Border Platoons, permanent sentinels of the Brazilian Army in the Western Amazon. Furthermore, support and instruction missions for the military will be intensified, with a focus on Jungle Warfare techniques, tactics and procedures, intelligence and logistics. The partial balance of the JACUIXITO Operation points to a significant reduction in several levels of cross-border and environmental crimes in the Javari Valley, thanks to the presence of the Brazilian Army, which remains in the region indefinitely, guaranteeing the sovereignty of Brazil in the Western Amazon.
Source: Military Command of the Amazon