Peru has intensified operations against illegal gold mining in the Tambopata National Reserve and the wider Madre de Dios region, as authorities seek to curb deforestation, environmental damage and mining activity advancing into protected areas of the Amazon rainforest.
Peruvian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Renato Miranda said the mission focused on destroying equipment essential to illegal mining, while Ronald Flores Yáñez, deputy prosecutor for Peru’s Office of the Attorney General, warned miners had expanded further into protected land.
Key developments:
- 56 motors, 78 mining rafts and more than 52,000 litres of fuel were destroyed during the three-day operation.
- Authorities say mercury pollution continues to threaten rivers, wildlife and Indigenous communities.
- Prosecutors are increasingly targeting the financiers behind illegal mining alongside enforcement raids.
Officials say sustained operations and financial investigations will be needed to disrupt illegal gold mining despite persistently high global gold prices.
ℹ️ AP News
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Peruvian Navy soldiers pour gasoline onto a dredge during an operation to combat illegal mining in the Tambopata National Reserve in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
