1000 military troops and police have disrupted
mining activities in the Eastern Provinces, destroying
equipment so that such activities do not
pollute the environment.
"We're going in with absolutely everything,"
Interior Minister Juan Zapata said at a
news conference in Quito.
While 21 of the 24 provinces have had mines,
the government's early efforts have focused
on Eastern Amazonian provinces, in particular
Napo and Orellana, at least nine provinces in all.
It is the government's position that
unauthorized mining is connected to
organized criminal gangs and money laundering.
Source... MSN, reported at www.cuencahighlife.com
