Brazilian police crack down on illegal Amazon logging

By Raymond Colitt

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian police seized the equivalent of 500 trucks of timber from illegal sawmills in a huge raid in the Amazon on Wednesday, one of the biggest operations yet in the battle against deforestation, a government official said.

The raid followed official figures released in January that showed an increase in deforestation rates since last August after a three-year decline.

The setback has caused a rift in the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Environmentalists blame cattle ranchers and farmers for pushing deeper into the rain forest in search of cheap land after it has been cleared by loggers.

But the agriculture ministry has rejected such claims, saying there was no evidence linking recent deforestation to agriculture.

About 140 officers raided eight sawmills in the town of Tailandia, some 175 miles southeast of Para state capital Belem on Wednesday. They confiscated 10,000 cubic meters of tropical timber chopped down illegally, a spokeswoman for the state environment office said.

"It's one of the biggest operations ever against sawmills," spokeswoman Ivanette Motta said.

Tailandia, with 140 sawmills, is at the heart of an intense dispute in the Amazon for land and natural resources which is often settled by hired gunmen.  Continued...