Brazil’s Federal Police on Wednesday announced the launch of an investigation into alleged illegal exports of timber from the Amazon region into the US and Europe, facilitated by the Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles.
According to the announcement, more than 150 federal officers served 35 search and seizure warrants at both Salles’ home and Environment Ministry offices in the states of São Paulo and Pará.
“Operation Akuanduba”—named for the indigenous deity Akuanduba—formally began in January, when the Federal Police had reported the suspicious existence of $14.2 million reais (USD $2.7 million) in “extremely atypical financial transactions” involving a law firm where Salles is a stakeholder. Foreign authorities also reported “possible misconduct by Brazilian public servants in the process of exporting wood.”
The searches came following an order from federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal) Justice Alexandre de Moraes determining that federal police had evidence that Salles and other governmental environment officials were “involved in an extremely serious scheme to facilitate the contraband of rainforest products.” The ruling also granted authorities access to Salles’ confidential banking and tax records.
The order further granted the removal of 10 governmental officials from their posts for “crimes against the Public Administration (corruption, administrative advocacy, malfeasance and, especially, contraband facilitation) practiced by public agents and businessmen in the logging industry.” This included Eduardo Bim, head of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resource (IBAMA).
In a statement, Greenpeace Brasil applauded Bim’s removal and called for Salles’ as well: “You cannot have an environmental protection body chaired by someone who acts on behalf of lumber companies and facilitates the export of illegal timber.”
Since Salles’ appointment to federal office in 2019, deforestation rates in the Amazon have skyrocketed nearly 50%, hitting their highest levels since 2008.
Most recently, Salles has been in negotiations with the Biden administration, on a quest to acquire US $10 billion a year in international funding for protecting the Amazon rainforest.
