Brazil’s king of deforestation dethroned in drive to beat land clearers | World news | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/02/brazils-king-of-deforestation-dethroned-in-drive-to-beat-land-clearers
Today, however, the thick-set, middle-aged man sits in jail with a notoriety across Brazil as a Tony Soprano-like character whose businesses were used to launder money from one of the biggest land clearance syndicates ever uncovered.
Castanha was arrested last weekend, along with 15 associates, in what has been hailed as a major breakthrough for environmental enforcement. The local media have described the detainee as the “king of deforestation”. According to the environment ministry Ibama, he and his gang were responsible for about 10% of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon last year.
