Police Shut Down Logging Operation

POLICE and park guards in theNorthern Zone shut down what theycalled an illegal logging operation thisweek, seizing a tractor, chain saws andsome 30,000 cubic inches of wood, LaNación reported.The felling, discovered after ananonymous tip to police, was on privateproperty on the shores of the San CarlosRiver, police said. Alexis Rodríguez, chiefof the police station in Cutris de SanCarlos, said the property owner hadreceived authorization to cut down trees –but only eight. Many more than that werefound cut, police said.Rodríguez pointed to Article 33 of theForest Law, which states that extractingtrees within 15 meters of any river is illegal.Authorities estimated the value of theseized wood to be ¢8 million (about$18,000).It is the second illegal logging operationdiscovered in the Northern Zone inseven days, authorities said. Police hadpreviously discovered an operation in aprotected primary forest near Upala, LaNación reported. Police, who found 10felled trees of species that had beendeclared extinct, have not named any suspectsin that clearing.