According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), seven individuals were detained in Pará, Brazil after suspicions of illegal Amazon timber trade. Among those detained is a former employee of the Pará Environmental Secretariat (SEMAS). Investigation began in 2019, with the operation "Dark Wood" involving a total of nine search and seizure warrants and the freezing of bank accounts. The two-year investigation sought to dismantle the criminal scheme that enabled the illegal extraction of sale and timber. The scheme involved laundering wood from illegal deforestation, yielding significant profits. It disguised the origins of illicit wood, which was then exported to the United States. Yellow Ipê wood, highly valued in the U.S., was a primary target. During their investigation, the Brazilian Civil Police eventually uncovered forged documents used to simulate forest product auctions. These allowed companies to introduce fraudulent permits into the Forest Products Commercialization and Transportation System (Sisflora). Operation "Dark Wood" resulted in the detention of guilty sawmill owners and former SEMAS employees across various locations in Pará and the Federal District. The identities of the suspects and companies remain undisclosed.