Federal Environmental Agency Leads Major Operation Against Illegal Logging in Quintana Roo

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — Federal environmental authorities have shut down five properties and seized hundreds of cubic meters of wood in a major operation targeting illegal logging and land-use changes in Quintana Roo.

The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) led the multi-agency operation from January 28 to 30 in the municipalities of Playa del Carmen and Felipe Carrillo Puerto. The action was part of a nationwide crackdown on illegal forestry activities in critical zones across 28 states.

Authorities installed 25 transportation checkpoints, conducted 16 surveillance patrols, and carried out 38 inspections of sawmills and properties with illegal land-use changes.

The operation resulted in 25 closures: eight at Forest Raw Material Storage and Transformation Centers and 17 at properties with illegal land-use changes on forested land. Officials seized 394.95 cubic meters of wood, 1,202.4 kilograms of charcoal, 2,800 kilograms of agave pineapples, five pieces of machinery, and 12 vehicles.

In Quintana Roo, inspectors found specific damage at multiple sites. In Playa Paraíso, they documented the clearing of 21.6 square meters of medium sub-perennial rainforest vegetation. In the Nuevo Durango–Cobá area, two properties showed damage of 1,050 square meters and 460 square meters, respectively.

In the Felipe Carrillo Puerto Ejido, authorities observed damage to 2.9 hectares of medium sub-perennial rainforest. Another 1.4 hectares of the same vegetation type were affected in the X-Hazil Ejido.

Mariana Boy Tamborrell, the head of PROFEPA, stated, “This year we are reinforcing our operations in critical forest zones. Protecting forests is a priority task, and to accomplish it we are acting in coordination with authorities from all three levels of government. Impunity for those who destroy our forest ecosystems is over.”

The operation involved 464 PROFEPA personnel and included participation from the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp), municipal ecology departments, the Mexican Army, the National Guard, the Mexican Navy, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, and state and municipal police.