Three men were arrested on suspicion of illegal mining in Santa Teresa, rural area of Espírito Santo. The operation was carried out on Sunday (16) by the Military Environmental Police following an anonymous tip.
According to the PM, the group was found in a mine in the town of Várzea Alegre, with equipment such as generator, ventilation and lighting system installed inside a tunnel of approximately 70 meters.
The suspects reported that had been there for about three months and that they only carried out the activity on weekends. They admitted that they did not have authorization to extract ores.
On site, 16 kg of extracted ores were seized drilling and blasting tools such as breakers, ammonium nitrate and other electrical equipment. The three were taken to the Federal Police headquarters, in Vila Velha.
The land owner was contacted by the police and denied having knowledge or authorization the activity on site.
The detainees’ lawyer, Fábio Marçal, stated that the seized material has no commercial value and that there was no crime against the economic order.
He highlighted that the clients were provisionally released and that the defense will prove their innocence throughout the investigation.
This content was originally published in Illegal mining with 70-meter tunnel discovered in ES; see images on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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