BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Paraguayan authorities arrested 26 people in a crackdown on suspected illegal deforestation along the country's border with Brazil and Argentina, Interpol announced Monday.
Fourteen different agencies collaborated in the mid-October sweep, which relied on border inspections, waterway surveillance and aerial monitoring of forests. Some 1,000 logs were seized, including some quebracho wood, prized for its density and high tannin content, Interpol said.
Interpol said 12 companies were involved in the alleged deforestation and trafficking of native tree species, and that it identified two criminal networks. A spokesman said alleged crimes include illegal logging of various tree species, illicit trafficking of timber, use of fake documents to traffic in illegal wood, and various acts of deforestation. He said the delay in announcing the arrests was in part to allow for follow-up investigation.
“Illegal deforestation encompasses a broad spectrum of criminal activities, from document fraud to money laundering and corruption," said Kat Henn, Interpol’s assistant director of environmental security. "This operation highlights the urgent need for continued multi-agency and sustained cross-border cooperation to tackle the criminal networks devastating our environment for profit.”
Interpol has been boosting its presence in what's called the Tri-Border area for years. The agency has said the area — with two rivers separating the states and creating many entry points — is “conducive to a wide range of illegal activities.”
“ Organized crime is increasingly making forested areas their hub of operations — not just for the cover but to illegally extract flora, fauna and mineral resources,” Gimena Sanchez, a human rights advocate at the Washington Office on Latin America, told The Associated Press.
Fighting deforestation in South America “means fighting sophisticated transnational organized crime networks,” she added.
Deforestation typically results from land being converted to raise cattle or soybeans, as well as logging or mining. It leads to a slew of negative environmental impacts, including erosion, biodiversity loss, and increased risk of flooding, as well as the loss of a valuable carbon sink. Though some progress has been made in recent years to slow deforestation, especially in Brazil and Colombia, Latin America lost 138 million hectares (about 341 million acres) of forest between 1990 and 2020, according to a United Nations report.
Gabriel Funari, head of the Amazon Observatory of Illicit Economies for Global Initiative, said they are seeing large transnational criminal groups that have grown through drug trafficking revenue, such as one of Brazil’s largest crime gangs, Primeiro Comando da Capital — commonly known as PCC — increasingly diversifying their investment portfolios into various illicit markets with goods that pass through the Tri-Border, like firearms, timber, wildlife and gold.
In Latin America, the direct environmental harms caused by drug trafficking are much smaller than those from perceived legal industries like cattle ranching and industrial agriculture, says Bram Ebus, a consultant for Crisis Group in Latin America.
“Nevertheless, it is the drug money that is laundered through these economic activities that finances and accelerates deforestation,” he said.
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FILE - Trucks wait in line on Friendship Bridge over the Parana River, the border between Foz do Iguazu, Brazil, top, and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, June 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz, File)
Three people were killed and others were injured Monday in a shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin. The shooting happened days before the Christmas break. Police said the student who opened fire was among the dead.
Here are some things to know about the shooting in Wisconsin's capital city:
WHAT HAPPENED IN MADISON?
The shooting occurred late Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School. Police said a teenage student opened fire, killing another student and a teacher. The shooter also was dead, likely by suicide, Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Responding police officers did not fire their weapons, Barnes said.
Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
The school website shows that Friday was to be the last scheduled day of classes before the holiday break.
The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting and officials were in touch with local authorities to provide support. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers also has been briefed on the situation.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SCHOOL?
Abundant Life Christian School is nondenominational and has about 390 students from kindergarten through high school, according to its website.
"Prayers Requested! Today, we had an active shooter incident at ALCS. We are in the midst of following up. We will share information as we are able," the school posted on its Facebook page. “Please pray for our Challenger Family.”
The school's website said it was founded in 1978 “to offer students academic excellence in a Christ-focused context.” The website said the school is accredited through the Association of Christian Schools International.
HAVE RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS BEEN TARGETED ELSEWHERE?
The shooting comes less than two weeks after a gunman critically wounded two kindergartners at a tiny religious school in Northern California and then killed himself. Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said Glenn Litton was mentally ill and believed that by targeting children on Dec. 4 that he was carrying out “counter-measures” in response to America’s involvement in Middle East violence.
Litton, 56, gained entry to the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville,, California, by pretending he wanted to enroll a fictitious grandson, Honea said. He used a handgun to shoot and critically wound two kindergarten boys, ages 5 and 6. Authorities said Litton was found dead afterward just yards (meters) from the school's playground.
It was unclear why Feather River School was targeted.
HOW MANY SCHOOL SHOOTINGS HAVE HAPPENED THIS YEAR?
The website for the anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety shows that there have been at least 202 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 56 deaths and 147 injuries, in 2024. That data doesn't include the latest shooting in Madison.
The deadliest school shooting in 2024 happened in September at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Authorities said 14-year-old student Colt Gray opened fire with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle. Four people were killed and nine more were hurt, seven of them shot. A grand jury subsequently indicted Gray and his father Colin Gray — who was accused of giving his son access to the gun — on murder and other charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Last year, 45 people died in 158 school shootings, the Everytown for Gun Safety website shows. Sixty-seven people died in 181 school shootings in 2022, according to the data.
School shootings in recent years, including deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas, have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.
Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.
Emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
Emergency vehicles are parked outside of the SSM Health clinic where parents are being reunified with children after a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
Emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Police investigate as emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A family leave the shelter after multiple injuries were reported following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
