90+ Arrested In Illegal Logging Of 642 Million BF Brazilian Timber - Odds Good That Most WIll Walk

[hatrack]

After two years of investigations, the Brazilian Federal Police arrested some of the most important politicians and authorities for illegal logging in the Amazon. Code-named Operation Jurupari, the Brazilian Federal Police uncovered a massive illegal logging scheme that resulted in the arrests of over 90 people and caused an estimated $500 million in damage to the Amazon rainforest. Over 496 square kilometers (192 square miles), an area the size of California or Spain, were affected and an estimated 1.5 million cubic meters (642 million board feet) of timber was illegally extracted.

While the investigation focused on activities in the state of Mato Grosso, which is located in the southern Amazon and is one of the most deforested regions largely due to clearing land for expanding soya farms, it touched numerous others, including São Paulo, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais and Distrito Federal.

EDIT

The motive for these bureaucratic and technical gymnastics was simple: profit. Documentation that timber was legally harvested raised its sale price significantly, from $28 for an illegal log to about $770 for a legal one. Brazilian laws to protect the rainforest require timber companies to show that their logs came from an approved source. Coming just four months before Brazil's elections, Operation Jurupari has sparked a political and legal firestorm made all the more intense because of the May 21, 2010 arrests of top government officials. On October 3, 2010, Brazil will elect its President, all seats in its national Chamber of Deputies and 54 (out of 81) seats in its Federal Senate, all of its state governors, and all seats in its state legislative assemblies.

EDIT

Prior to the detention of the accused individuals, Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva, a Federal Judge in Mato Grosso, issued arrest and search warrants for 91 individuals. These warrants were for "preventive arrests," meaning the judge was convinced not only about the individual's criminal activities but also certain that, if they remained free, they might menace or corrupt witnesses, destroy evidence and so on. The preventative arrests meant the defendants were immediately imprisoned and their assets seized. The amounts varied based on the suspect's involvement. The largest confiscation was Afrânio Migliari's, with $225 million in assets seized. By comparison, Migliari's salary at SEMA was under $5,700 per month ($68,400/year). Following their detention, 64 detainees appealed (through an application for habeas corpus) and claimed the arrests were politically biased. The initial petition was to be examined by the chief judge of Federal Court of Region 1 in Brasilia, Italo Fioravanti Sabo Mendes, who was expected to conclude the arrests were legal and that the evidence was sufficient for prosecution. However, because one of Mendes' relatives was hired as the defense lawyer for one of the defendants, the case was instead heard by Judge Fernando Tourinho Neto of the Federal Regional Court of Region 1 in Brasilia. On May 26th, Judge Neto released all of those arrested.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0708-neme_operation_jurupari.html

[pscot]

1. Spain is a half million square kilometers

not 500.

[hatrack]

2. Yeah, I'm assuming that's "496,000" - or should be . ..

:hi:

[keepCAblue]

3. Yeah, missing a few zeros.

California is approx 164,000 sq mi (424 sq km)