INTERPOL reports 233 arrests in nine-country crime operation

INTERPOL reported 233 arrests and more than 330 cases during a two-month environmental-crime operation in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries. Operation Madre Tierra VIII also involved 313 seizures, the recovery of more than 1,000 live animals and the identification of 60,000 hectares of illegally cleared forest, according to the agency.

The operation ran from June 1 through July 31, 2026. INTERPOL announced the results October 7 and said the participating countries were Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama.

Participating countries identified 312 people suspected of environmental crimes, INTERPOL said. That figure is distinct from the 233 arrests and does not mean all identified people were arrested. The reported arrests and suspicions are not findings of guilt. The agency did not give a country-by-country breakdown of the arrests.

Seizures included chemicals and wildlife

INTERPOL reported 313 seizures, including cyanide, mercury and ammunition. In Costa Rica, authorities seized about 4.6 metric tonnes of cyanide and 11 containers of mercury. Across the operation, the agency reported up to 4.6 metric tonnes of cyanide seized.

Authorities also recovered more than 1,000 live animals. Separately, they seized 165 kilograms of dried shark fins, which INTERPOL estimated were worth about $280,000. These figures describe different reported seizures and recoveries; the agency did not report that the shark fins were part of the live-animal total.

INTERPOL said authorities in Colombia made 16 arrests. The agency’s overall figure covers nine countries, but its announcement does not assign the remaining arrests or the identified forest area to particular countries. It reported 60,000 hectares of illegally cleared forest identified during the operation, without attributing that full area to any one person, company or network.

Investigation examined suspected company links

Alongside the operational totals, INTERPOL described an investigation originating in Colombia into suspected corporate connections to forest clearing in the protected Amazon. The agency said 11 foreign companies had been identified as suspects in a case concerning more than 52,000 hectares of protected forest. During the latest operation, investigators identified links to an additional 161 companies and 65 people across several continents.

Those are investigative claims, not findings that the companies or people committed crimes. INTERPOL said it issued three Red Notices, three Blue Notices and one Purple Notice connected to suspects. The notices were intended to help identify, locate and arrest people; their issuance does not establish that the people named were arrested.

The corporate investigation’s area of more than 52,000 hectares is separate from the 60,000 hectares of illegally cleared forest INTERPOL said were identified during the operation. The agency did not say that the two figures describe the same land or that the full operational figure was connected to the companies under investigation.

For context, INTERPOL’s account of the preceding Madre Tierra operation, in 2025, reported 225 arrests. The 2026 figure is eight higher. The earlier operation reported more than 400 environmental crimes, while the 2026 account reported more than 330 cases; because the agency used different terms, those case totals are not directly comparable. INTERPOL presented the latest results as support for investigations and prosecutions, but did not report final outcomes for the cases.