RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Two EC130 B4 helicopters belonging to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), based in Manaus, in the Amazon, were victims of an arson attack, presumably in retaliation after an operation against illegal mining. One aircraft was utterly destroyed, while the other suffered minor damage.
The attack on the aircraft came weeks after a mega inter-institutional operation involving the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Police, and the Brazilian Armed Forces, which destroyed rafts and dredges used by mining gangs operating illegally in the region and on the Madeira River.
The site of the arson attack, the Manaus Aeroclub, is a bustling area and has a 24-hour police station, the 12th Integrated Police District, so the two attackers who attacked the helicopters, according to witnesses, knew exactly the risk they were taking by invading the security zone with armed police presence.
The note released by Ibama informs that the Federal Police of Manaus was activated and is investigating the arson to locate and arrest those involved.
RECURRENT ATTACKS
It is not the first time that aircraft in Ibama’s fleet or in Ibama’s service have been involved in accidents or have been the target of retaliatory attacks. In 2012, an Ibama helicopter had its tail rotor control cables purposely cut, and Federal Police expertise proved sabotage.
At the time, Ibama was involved in the so-called Operation Sovereignty against illegal deforestation in the States of Mato Grosso and Pará. The sabotaged helicopter was an essential part of supporting surveillance against transnational crimes of smuggling Brazilian timber to Europe.
In operations throughout the country, several of the organ’s helicopters have suffered accidents, some with fatalities, such as the one that occurred in December 2020 on the border of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, resulting in the pilot’s death.
In 2011, two unusual events occurred in the same region dominated by criminals in the state of Pará.
In April of that year, the agency’s headquarters in Novo Progresso was invaded by criminals who attacked one aircraft with steel cables and padlocks to prevent it from operating in the Disparada Operation, which was combating cattle ranching in illegally deforested areas.
In September, another Ibama helicopter crashed in Itabuna, with total material loss but no injuries.