Peru moved to shut down a major illegal gold mine hub deep in the Amazon after years of expansion destroyed swathes of pristine rain forest and displaced cocaine as the country’s biggest illicit trade.
The government deployed 1,500 officials from the police and armed forces to an area known as La Pampa in the Madre de Dios region of southeast Peru on Tuesday to begin closing down mine operations. The crackdown will last two weeks and aims to eradicate mining, as well as other activities such as drug trade and human-trafficking.
