Elon Musk brought Internet to Brazil’s Amazon. Criminals love it.

In this image provided by IBAMA, Brazil's Environmental Agency, federal agents destroy an illegal mining barge inside Yanomami Indigenous territory, Roraima state, Brazil, on March 14, 2023. On Tuesday, federal agents seized multiple Starlink unit, an internet kit that provides high-speed connections even in remote places in Brazil's Amazon, like this mining pit. — IBAMA via AP

ATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil: Brazilian federal agents aboard three helicopters descended on an illegal mining site on Tuesday in the Amazon rainforest. They were met with gunfire, and the shooters escaped, leaving behind an increasingly familiar find for authorities: Starlink Internet units.

Starlink, a division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has almost 4,000 low-orbit satellites across the skies, connecting people in remote corners of the Amazon and providing a crucial advantage to Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. The lightweight, high-speed internet system has also proved a new and valuable tool for Brazil’s illegal miners, with reliable service for coordinating logistics, receiving advance warning of law enforcement raids and making payments without flying back to the city.