“There are 330 administrative sanctioning proceedings for illegal burning throughout the country, of which 182 correspond to private properties and 148 to communities,” said Vidaurre, who reported that, of the administrative proceedings, 183 correspond to Santa Cruz, 54 to Beni and 93 to the rest of the country.

The official described that the 94 ongoing criminal proceedings are for the crimes of arson, qualified damage, attack on the environment and destruction and deterioration of the country’s natural heritage. He also stressed that, of them, 54 correspond to complaints against identified persons and 40 against alleged perpetrators.

According to the ABT, 78 criminal proceedings correspond to the department of Santa Cruz and 16 to that of Beni. Among the criminal files is the case of three people who were caught in the act of carrying out arson in the Bajo Paraguá reserve, in the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco in Santa Cruz.

The authority detailed that last Friday “(…) the ABT mobilized its operational units to this area, where fires and clearings occurred,” and added that, as a result of the intervention, six people were arrested, three of whom were caught red-handed.

Vidaurre indicated that the trio of arsonists remains under detention for 180 days in the Palmasola Penitentiary, while until Tuesday four people were reported with a conviction for the fires, which have already damaged seven million hectares.

In this context, residents of the municipality of San Matías reported under anonymity the actions of unscrupulous people who since August 4th have been damaging the environment, flora and fauna in the towns of Candelaria, Natividad and Las Petas. They considered it strange that thousands of hectares of burned land are not located in any territory that has been the result of what they call “land occupation” or fire from Brazil, and they believed that these fires are caused by landowners who seek to expand their properties through indiscriminate burning.

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