RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Police arrested 46 people, including 16 agents of the federal environmental protection agency, for allegedly operating illegal logging operations in the Amazon rain forest and in southern Brazil, the environment ministry said Wednesday.
The group is accused of selling an estimated 32 million cubic feet of illegally logged tropical hardwoods, worth an estimated $25 million, the ministry said.
The environmental agents are accused of selling permits that allowed loggers to cut down and transport trees while breaking Brazil’s strict environmental laws. Other members of the ring included loggers and lobbyists, the ministry said.
Federal police carried out arrests in four states.
Police called it the second-largest operation to crack down on illegal logging. The biggest was in June, when federal police and environmental officials broke up a ring involving 74 suspects in five states.
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