By Steven Grattan PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru (AP) \u2014 Eight Peruvian navy personnel jumped from a helicopter into a clearing carved out of the Amazon rainforest by illegal gold miners along the Malinowski River in Peru\u2019s Madre de Dios region, sending sand and dust swirling as they ran toward the mining site. The forest gave way to giant holes gouged into the earth and filled with opaque, muddy water, gasoline and other chemicals glistening on the surface. Makeshift wooden mining platforms straddled the pools, surrounded by pumps and thick plastic tubes used to suck up and sift through sediment for tiny particles of gold. As the troops closed in, several miners stood watching from a distance. The officer leading the patrol fired a warning shot into the air. Within seconds, they… <\/p>\n
By Steven Grattan PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru (AP) \u2014 Eight Peruvian navy personnel jumped from a helicopter into a clearing carved out of the Amazon rainforest by illegal gold miners along the Malinowski River in Peru\u2019s Madre de Dios region, sending sand and dust swirling as they ran toward the mining site. The forest gave way to giant holes gouged into the earth and filled with opaque, muddy water, gasoline and other chemicals glistening on the surface. Makeshift wooden mining platforms straddled the pools, surrounded by pumps and thick plastic tubes used to suck up and sift through sediment for tiny particles of gold. As the troops closed in, several miners stood watching from a distance. The officer leading the patrol fired a warning shot into the air. Within seconds, they... <\/p>\n