Brazil cracks down on illegal logging

BRASILIA, Brazil, March 3 (UPI) -- Brazil has shut down three illegal lumber mills that were operating inside the country's Amazon rainforest, environmental officials said Monday.

Authorities also seized nearly 11,000 cubic feet of wood when they converged on the illegal mills, O Globo TV reported.

Brazil's environmental officials said they used satellite imagery to track the illegal logging in the forest.

The crackdown came amid the first week of operation Arc of Fire, an initiative employing 500 law enforcement officials aimed at curtailing the rising rate of illegal logging in the rainforest.