Gold Mining Mafias Kill Six Attackers in Shootout Over Golf Ball-Sized Nugget
"He said, 'Well, me and my team killed six of them of the attackers.' He said, 'But we only lost one.' He said, 'It was my friend right next to me.' He said, 'He got shot and he said his neck exploded, hit the artery, and he died right there.'"
About this episode
Conservationist Paul Rosolie details the deadly threats he and his team face protecting Peru's Amazon rainforest on this episode with host Ed Mylett. Rosolie reveals that cocaine growers have placed an explicit bounty on him and his indigenous partner JJ, with confiscated phones showing hit lists. The danger became real when Jonathan, a Peruvian police officer who had just saved Rosolie's group from armed narcos, was murdered hours later in an ambush. Rosolie now requires a full security detail whenever in Peru. In perhaps the most disturbing revelation, he discloses that narcos have massacred dozens of uncontacted indigenous people, burying them in a mass grave discovered only by vulture activity. The episode covers the full scope of Amazon destruction, from illegal gold mining that has created Sahara-like wastelands to logging operations. Rosolie discusses how former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro explicitly praised American extermination of indigenous peoples and encouraged Amazon settlement during his administration. Gold mining violence is so extreme that security teams routinely kill attackers in shootouts over tiny amounts of low-grade gold. Despite these challenges, Rosolie's organization Jungle Keepers has protected land half the size of Singapore by converting loggers and miners into conservation rangers. He explains that $20 million would protect their entire remaining river territory, and emphasizes that the Amazon's survival depends on immediate action before reaching an irreversible tipping point of deforestation.
Key takeaways
- Paul Rosolie and his partner JJ have an active bounty on their lives placed by Amazon cocaine growers, confirmed by confiscated cell phones showing explicit kill orders
- A Peruvian police officer named Jonathan was shot and killed hours after saving Rosolie's team from armed narcos in a retaliatory ambush
- Narcos massacred dozens of uncontacted indigenous people in a mass grave discovered deep in the Amazon due to vulture concentrations
- Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro publicly stated it was a shame Brazil had not exterminated indigenous peoples as effectively as the United States
- Illegal gold mining has created Sahara-like wastelands across hundreds of thousands of Amazon acres, with miners risking death for golf ball-sized nuggets
- Security teams protecting legal gold miners killed six armed attackers in a single shootout, illustrating the extreme violence in mining regions
- Rosolie's organization Jungle Keepers has protected territory half the size of Singapore and needs $20 million to secure their remaining river corridor