In one of the largest operations to battle environmental crime in the country's history, Brazilian federal police on Wednesday arrested 46 people allegedly involved in a scheme to supply illegal licenses to transport forest products.

Federal prosecutor Joaquim Gomes de Oliveira and 16 inspectors and employees of the Brazilian Institute of Environment (Ibama) in the northern Amazon rainforest region, Amapa state, are among the suspects in custody.

As many as 250 officers participated in the operation, in which they also seized 850,000 cubic meters of illegally extracted timber, according to the police.

Criminals sold each license for 1,000-5,000 reals (about 460 U.S. dollars to 2,300 dollars).

Federal police chief Jorge Pontes said the results of investigations, which started one year ago, indicated that the gang had been selling licenses for up to six years.

He also disclosed that the Ibama agency in Amapa had issued illegal licenses to other states in Brazil, such as Santa Catarina and Para.

Brazilian Minister of Environment Marina Silva said on the same day that police had carried out a further 10 operations to curb timber related crime since 2003.

She said the ministry would launch a licensing system in September aimed at preventing further fraud.

Source: Xinhua