The UAE Ministry of Interior reported that Operation Green Shield 2026 resulted in 839 arrests during a 17-day campaign that featured 1,045 field operations across the Amazon Basin. Authorities confiscated assets linked to environmental offences valued at more than $280 million in equipment, materials and other items. The ministry’s statement detailed how the operation focused on disrupting cross-border criminal networks engaged in illicit activities that damage the rainforest ecosystem.
Participating countries in the UAE-coordinated effort included Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, according to the ministry. The collaboration operated under the framework of the International Initiative to Combat Environmental Crime, which the UAE launched with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2023. This structure facilitated real-time intelligence sharing and joint enforcement that targeted illegal mining along with wildlife trafficking and related offenses.
A report from the International Crisis Group published in May 2026 found that organized crime has become a major obstacle to protecting the Amazon. Criminal groups have expanded control over 32 percent of indigenous areas in some countries, the assessment showed, while driving instability through drug trafficking routes and illegal extraction sites. The document highlighted rising violence tied to these networks in departments across Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.
An academic analysis published in 2026 placed global earnings from environmental crime at $280 billion in 2024 after rising from $258 billion in 2016. The paper positioned such activity as the world’s third-largest criminal sector. In the Amazon context these revenues fuel further deforestation and biodiversity loss that affects both local communities and broader climate stability.
The ministry’s statement noted that the July-launched operation represents one of the largest multinational law enforcement actions ever mounted against environmental crime in the region. It builds upon a prior Green Shield campaign conducted in 2025 that similarly relied on cross-border technology and cooperation. Officials indicated the latest results underscore the value of unified frameworks in addressing transnational threats that no single nation can resolve alone.
Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the outcomes and emphasized the UAE’s role in fostering international partnerships on this front. The operation aligns with broader Emirati initiatives that have sought to elevate environmental security on global agendas since the initiative’s inception. Data from the involved agencies show the effort has already prompted additional enforcement reviews among the partner nations.
