Just 50 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous beaches, one of the city’s most powerful gangsters found a fortune to be made in sand.
Before he turned himself in to the authorities in December 2023, Luis Antonio da Silva Braga, alias “Zinho,” headed the Bonde do Zinho militia. And beyond its criminal interests in Rio, the group had branched out to the nearby municipality of Seropédica, allegedly working with a Rio de Janeiro state legislator to use floating dredgers, trucks, tractors, backhoes, and silos to illegally scoop up huge amounts of sand.
Satellite photos show the extent of the extraction between about 2011 and 2017.
Most illegally mined sand is used in the construction sector for materials like concrete and bricks as well as for foundation bedding. It is cheaper than legally mined sand, and scant oversight by authorities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean has made sand trafficking a relatively profitable and low-risk activity for criminal groups throughout the region.
In addition to filling the coffers of sometimes violent criminal groups, illegal sand extraction has caused environmental damage like wildlife extinctions, changes in waterways, and increased flooding.
But the crime is difficult to police, since differentiating between sand extracted legally and illegally is often impossible.
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“If you’ve got a truckload of illegal sand, it looks exactly the same as a truck of legally mined sand,” Vince Beiser, author of a history of humans’ use of sand, told InSight Crime.
Brazil
Illegal sand extraction is one of the most profitable illicit industries in Brazil, and in much of the country, illegal sand use outstrips legal sand.
Powerful militias like Zinho’s steal sand to supply the irregular real estate market, then continue to make money by monopolizing services for the residents of the illegally constructed buildings.
The lack of effective regulation has led to some of these apartment buildings collapsing. The murder of Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco has been connected to her battle against these illegal construction projects.
Besides controlling spaces where the extraction is illegal, sand mafias extend their command to the commercial market, charging legal extraction companies in that space, according to Luis Fernando Ramadon, a Brazilian federal police officer and expert in illegal sand extraction.
“Considering the legal sand areas, the profit obtained by the militia that controls the municipality of Seropédica, in Rio de Janeiro, can reach 100,000 reais – around $18,000 – per month,” he said.
SEE ALSO: Q&A: Militias Become Luxury Real Estate Barons in Rio de Janeiro
Illegal sand extraction in this region impacts the Guandu River, which supplies water to 9 million people in Rio de Janeiro.
Smaller groups, known as carroceiros, have been detected in the states of Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Bahia, and Paraíba. Though they do not operate on the industrial scale seen in Seropédica, they have been accused of recruiting minors and employing people under slave-like conditions.
“Carroceiros sell sand to building material stores that act outside of the law, which encourages illegal sand extraction,” Ramadon told InSight Crime.
Colombia
In neighboring Colombia, criminal groups – some with ties to political and economic elites – have turned to sand trafficking to diversify their illicit businesses and increase their profits.
Sand mining gained prominence in Colombia during the 1990s, with the increase in urbanization on the country’s Caribbean coast. As much as half of the sand used in Colombia may be mined illegally, according to some estimates.
The Caribbean department of Magdalena has been particularly affected. Authorities there responded in May to reports of illegal sand extraction in the rural area of Pivijay and caught people extracting sand in dump trucks without authorization.
Magdalena’s political elite have previously been tied to the trade. In 2017, the government said illegal sand extraction was taking place on the property of a prominent lawyer who later ran for mayor in the area.
In the nearby Caribbean department of Córdoba, sand traffickers seem to have been willing to kill for the sake of their business. Colombian journalist Rafael Moreno was murdered in 2016 after he denounced illegal sand extraction linked to a politically prominent family.
Mexico
In Mexico, illegal sand extraction has also been tied to elite corruption.
Legally registered companies with permission to mine sand flaunt legal regulations, and are protected by corrupt local officials, researchers say. Illegal sand extraction often goes unreported due to fears of violent repercussions for whistleblowers.
Some Mexican sand mafias may export their product to the United States, though the issue has not received as much attention from authorities as the smuggling of drugs and people across the border.
Beiser said legal sand mining has gotten public pushback due to its effects on water quality, which could be pushing construction companies in the border region to use illegal sand.
“I would not at all be surprised to learn that illegal sand mining is feeding San Diego’s market now,” Beiser said.
Featured Image: A miner salvages what he can of equipment destroyed by police in La Pampa in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, Friday, May 16, 2014. Credit: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd.