More than 200 million tons of cargo move through the Port of Houston, so when a big vessel gets stopped or asked what might be on board, people start having questions.
Lise Olsen, an investigative reporter for the Houston Chronicle, says shipping containers have been retained at the Port of Houston because of illegal logging and trafficking. And not just any wood: timber from the Peruvian rainforest valued at millions of dollars.
“This ship regularly gone back and forth from Houston to Iquitos, Peru, and this was just one of many trips it’s taken,” Olsen says. “It last docked here in September and that’s when the wood hit the fan.”
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How the operation was discovered and what role permits play
– How the Lacey Act was used in the investigation
– How Peru’s government plans to protect resources from the Amazon
