Police Swarm Gold Rush Mountain Amid Ecuador Emergency
- Crimes at illegal mines include murder and human trafficking
- Ecuador promises to toughen stance to support legal mining
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Before dawn Tuesday, troops escorted more than 1,000 police officers to seize a remote mountain at the center of a gold rush at illegal mines in Ecuador’s northern Andes.
As many as 10,000 people flooded the remote region known as Buenos Aires over the last two years, to illegally mine gold owned by an Australian exploration company. The area became the scene of crimes including human trafficking, sexual exploitation, extortion, money laundering and murder, as well as severe environmental damage, Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said at a news conference in Quito.