Brazil intercepts illegal flight over Indigenous land invaded by gold miners

FILE PHOTO: Illegal miners are caught using jets of water to dig for gold, damaging the soil by the edge of the Couto de Magalhaes river, during an operation by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) against illegal mining in Yanomami Indigenous land, Roraima state, Brazil, December 3, 2023. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian Air Force said on Tuesday it fired warning shots at a plane and forced it to land for violating a no-fly ban over the Yanomami Indigenous reservation where illegal gold miners have been returning despite federal efforts to keep them away.

Two bursts of machine gun fire were fired during the interdiction on Monday to warn the pilot of the unregistered plane - a single-engine Cessna 182 - to change course and land, according to a video released by the Air Force.