Coordinated Crackdown on Environmental Crime in the Amazon

Authorities from five Amazon countries have executed a major operation targeting environmental crime in the world’s largest rainforest. Police forces from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru carried out Operation Green Shield 2026 from July 15-31, deploying more than 3,600 officers to tackle illegal mining, logging, wildlife trafficking, fuel smuggling, and land grabbing.

The operation resulted in 839 arrests and 1,045 field actions. More than 280,000 cubic meters of illegally harvested timber, equivalent to approximately 110 Olympic-sized swimming pools, were seized. Authorities also confiscated 195 metric tons of minerals and mining equipment, including gold, carbon, iron, and copper. Additionally, over 3,000 live animals were rescued and at least 430 deceased animals linked to wildlife trafficking were recovered.

The operation underscores the profitability of environmental crime in the Amazon, driven by international demand for gold, timber, and wildlife.

Cross-border cooperation has become crucial as criminal organizations often operate across national boundaries, utilizing shared trafficking routes and financial networks.

Operation Green Shield 2026 was coordinated from Bogota by the International Initiative of Law Enforcement for Climate (I2LEC). I2LEC is supported by the United Arab Emirates and partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2023 to boost global collaboration against environmental crime.

This clampdown on environmental crime follows a similar operation in 2025, which involved over 1,500 officers from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. That effort marked an early attempt to share intelligence and enforce the law across borders, recognizing the growing trend of transnational criminal operations.

Col. Dana Humaid, director general of the International Affairs Bureau at the UAE Ministry of Interior, emphasized the importance of collaboration in tackling transnational crime, citing stronger results from joint efforts.

The total value of goods seized during Operation Green Shield 2026 surpassed $280 million, according to officials.

Colombian National Police Director Gen. William Oswaldo Rincón Zambrano highlighted the success of intelligence sharing in translating into coordinated enforcement, noting the necessity for a unified approach to protecting natural resources. Peruvian police environmental chief Gen. J. Manuel Cruz Chamba stressed the need for international cooperation as environmental crimes often disregard borders.

The crackdown reflects increasing awareness of the rampant cross-border operations of criminal groups involved in environmental crime.