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If you follow the Brazilian news here is a story about a criminal ring that
involved a Brazilian luthier getting busted for exporting illegally about
13 tons of BRW over th elast 4 years.

Quinta-Feira , 18 de Outubro de 2007

Extracao ilegal de jacaranda
                
A policia federal faz operacao em seis Estados do Sudeste e Nordeste - e
no Distrito Federal -contra a extracao ilegal de jacaranda.

Uma quadrilha contrabandeava para os Estados Unidos e Canada
instrumentos musicais feitos com a madeira nobre.
Um violao, por exemplo, podia ser vendido no exterior por US$ 800,
cerca de R$ 1.600,00.

A policia federal acusa o grupo de ter derrubado arvores em extincao no
Brasil. O homem apontado como chefe da quadrilha foi preso num
predio, na regiao sul da capital. Rodrigo Moreira e luthier, um especialista
na fabricacao de instrumentos musicais.

Numa pagina na internet, ele oferecia violoes, guitarras e acessorios.

Sorry, the story is in Portuguese but it should be out on some site in
English by now if someone wants to look for it.

Here is another story in another Brazilian paper about it.
They called it Operation wooodstock and it envolved numerous Brazilian
agencies as well as the US Fish and Game agency. Many corrupt agencies
in Brazil faciltated the illegal actions and a bunch of folks are going down
it sounds like.

OPERACAO WOOD SOTCK REPRIME EXTRACAO DE MADEIRA NOBRE
BELO HORIZONTE/MG – A Policia Federal iniciou hoje, 18, a operacao
Wood Stock, com objetivo de desmantelar uma organizacao criminosa
que atuava na extracao e exportacao de madeiras nobres, em especial a
Jacaranda-da-Bahia, que e utilizada para fabricacao de instrumentos
musicais.

A operacao, que conta com o apoio da Policia Militar de Minas Gerais e do
Instituto Estadual de Florestas, ocorre nos estados de Minas Gerais,
Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Piaui e no Distrito Federal.
A acao conta com o efetivo de 350 policiais federais e 50 policiais
militares do estado de Minas Gerais, que cumprirao cerca de 20
mandados de prisao e 67 mandados de busca e apreensao.

As investigacoes, que iniciaram ha cinco meses, revelaram que a madeira
era extraida principalmente no sul da Bahia e enviada de forma
fraudulenta ao Espirito Santo e Minas Gerais para beneficiamento e
exportacao. O corte da madeira era feito sem documentacao legal e seu
transporte para outras localidades era procedido com a utilizacao de
documentos que acobertavam somente parte da carga, e com valor
subestimado. O grupo ainda utilizava notas fiscais “frias” para
“esquentar” a madeira, dificultando a acao da fiscalizacao. O principal
foco da atividade predatoria localiza-se na mata atlantica, sendo que a
atividade se concentrava mais no sul da Bahia e norte do Espirito Santo.

Os policiais identificaram que nos ultimos quatro anos foram exportadas
pelo menos 13 toneladas do produto. A investigacao foi desenvolvida
com auxilio de cooperacao internacional nos Estados Unidos por meio da
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, agencia norte-americana de repressao aos
crimes ambientais, que passaram a monitorar as remessas de madeira
para aquele pais.

A participacao de servidores publicos no esquema fraudulento era
decisiva. Eles comunicavam previamente os madeireiros sobre
fiscalizacao e batidas policiais, o que facilitava a ocultacao dos ilicitos. Ha
casos em que agentes publicos utilizavam suas influencias para liberacao
de cargas irregulares.

A madeira Jacaranda-da-Bahia e classificada pelo Ibama como especie da
flora brasileira ameacada de extincao, e sua exploracao tem que estar de
acordo com o que determina o Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente-
CONAMA. Como ainda nao foram estabelecidos criterios tecnicos que
assegurem o manejo sustentavel de tal especie, sua exploracao esta
proibida.

Sera concedida entrevista coletiva na sede da Policia Federal em Belo
Horizonte as 15h.

Por Comunicacao Social da PF em Belo Horizonte/MG
(31) 3330-5270
(61) 9119-6634

Gracias, Roberto!

Let us know if you run across an English version!

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
   "Brazilian police launched an operation to dismantle a gang alleged to have illegally cut down and exported to the United States a rare wood commonly used to make musical instruments. Some 350 federal officers, backed bt state police and government agents, arrested 23 people and were searching for two others.
    Police also began serving 67 search and seizure warrants for the illegal extraction of Brazilian rosewood, and endangered tree species native to eastern Brazil and found only in this country, federal police said.
    Rosewood is legally protected by Brazilian law and by CITES."
A quick check on eBay this morning showed no offerings from the Brazilian sellers of rosewood.

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Extraction of illegal jacaranda
                   
The federal police is operating in six states of the Southeast and Northeast, and
The federal district-against illegal extraction of jacaranda.

A gang contrabandeava to the United States and Canada
Musical instruments made with the noble wood.
A guitar, for example, could be sold abroad for $ 800,
Approximately $ 1600.00.

The federal police accused the group of having toppled trees in the extinction
Brazil. The man appointed as head of the gang was arrested in a
Building, in the region south of the capital. Rodrigo Moreira is luthier, a specialist
The manufacture of musical instruments.

In a page on the Internet, he offered guitars, guitars and accessories.

Sorry, the story is in English but it should be out on some site in
English by now if someone wants to look for it.

Here is another story in another Brazilian paper about it.
They called it Operation wooodstock and it envolved numerous Brazilian
Agencies as well as the US Fish and Game agency. Many corrupt agencies
In Brazil faciltated the illegal actions and a bunch of folks are going down
It sounds like.

OPERATION WOOD SOTCK REPRIME EXTRACTION OF WOOD NOBRE
BELO HORIZONTE / MG - The Federal Police began today, 18, the transaction
Wood Stock, in order to dismantle a criminal organization
That served in the extraction and export of fine woods, especially the
Jacaranda-to-Bahia, which is used for the manufacture of instruments
Musical.

The transaction, which has the support of the Military Police of Minas Gerais and
State Institute of Forestry, occurs in the states of Minas Gerais,
Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Piaui and in the Federal District.
The action has the full 350 federal police and 50 police
Troops of the state of Minas Gerais, which meet about 20
Warrants of arrest warrants and 67 search and seizure.

The investigations, which began 05 months ago, showed that wood
It was extracted mainly in the south of Bahia and sent in
Fraudulent to the Holy Spirit and Minas Gerais for processing and
Export. The cutting of timber was done without legal documentation and its
Transport for other locations was conducted with the use of
Documents that acobertavam only part of the load, and with value
Underestimated. The group also used fiscal notes "cold" for
"Hot" the wood, hindering the action of supervision. The main
Focus of predatory activity located on the Atlantic forest, and that
Most activity was concentrated in the south of Bahia and north of the Holy Spirit.

The police identified that in the past four years were exported
At least 13 tons of the product. The research was developed
With the help of international cooperation in the United States through
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, North American agency of the repression
Environmental crimes, which came to monitor the shipments of wood
For that country.

The involvement of public servants in the scheme was fraudulent
Decisive. They communicated previously on the timber
Surveillance and police beats, which facilitated the concealment of illicit. There
Cases in which public officials used their influence to release
Loads of irregular.

The wood Jacaranda-to-Bahia is classified as IBAMA kind of
Brazilian flora threatened with extinction, and their operations must be in
According to what determines the National Council on the Environment -
CONAMA. How have not yet been established technical criteria that
Ensure sustainable management of this species, their farm is
Prohibited.

It will be granted collective interview at the headquarters of the federal police in Belo
Horizonte to 15h.

By Media of PF in Belo Horizonte / MG
(31) 3330-5270
(61) 9119-6634

_________________
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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Pretty good translation Lance.

So that is "the" Rodriguo that everyone has been talking about...

wow..

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Rodrigo Moreira was involved? I don't know much about him, but I have heard of at least one very famous maker who gets his BRW from him.

There was a big bust in Spain a couple years ago as well.

_________________
Instagram: @jfrenchluthier

[QUOTE=Brock Poling]
So that is "the" Rodriguo that everyone has been talking about...
wow..[/QUOTE]

Yes, I do believe it is. The strange thing is that I've seen some of his wood, and it's old growth, so they either they were truly finding old house beams and using them, or they were some big old trees getting cut.
I hate to admit it, but part of me wishes I had got some from him before the supply dried up, but the other part is very glad I didn't...

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Being caught with BRW in Brasil is a a crime you can't pay bail and get
releaed from jail. Even if you are finding old beams and stuff and
processing it you still have to have paperwork. From my understanding
there is only one guy in all of Brazil that has the authorization to give the
paperwork. I could be wrong though.

You know what the worst part of all this is. That wood will most likely never see the light of day.........or............ it will get sold underground by some crooked cops who will make a mint or it may just get burned.

Governments can be so stupid at times. (no political opinions here, just the facts )

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

I know that there was bust in spain last year that a couple of well known
dealers were involved in that hauled over 4 tons.
as far as i know the people involved have recived at least 4 years
imprisonment.

To be honest i am glad that cites is doing its job even if the wood then
goes to wast.

I would rather not use the wood now and have future generations enjoy it
than pay over the odds for unethicaly harvested wood that just puts
money into the pockets of corupt government officials and gangs.

There is no doubt its a beutifull wood. but in this day and age we have
more choice than any other generation we should be happy with what we
have and give mother nature a chance to heal herself.

Personaly i wont be using rio unless i KNOW FOR CERTAIN that it is pre
ban wood.

Sorry for the rant its a subject that many people feel strongly about but
few realy understand.
And being someone who wants to venture into the world of tonewood
sales its a subject i have thought long and hard about.

Thanks for reading.

Joel.

My two cents worth on this...
Banned wood/BRW is like the problem with drugs- it's a problem of demand, mostly here in North America and the rest of the N. hemisphere.
Until people start saying 'yuk!' instead of 'wow-awesome!' when they see BRW in a new guitar (or on a vendor's website, or here in the OLF) , this situation will not change much.
It probably doesn't make much difference in the 'big picture', since the rain forests will be mostly a memory for 'future generations' anyway.

This is probably getting into the 'politics' zone, so I will quit my rant now!

John

John you're right when you say it's a demand issue.
How does a luthier tell a customer he can't and won't offer Brazilian? It can be a hard thing to do. Some customers are going to search the stuff out, and pay the price for it no matter what. Those particular customers have lots of money, and it's hard to not do business with them, and even harder to get the customer to accept an available alternative.

The problem is that alternatives are getting more and more scarce as well, and we're seeing the substitute species getting added to the CITES list as well. Cocobolo, Honduran Rosewood, and Honduran Mahogany have all been listed recently. Fortunately, unlike Brazil, India has been smart about planting rosewood trees, and while the supply is shrinking, at least they have a mindset to plan for the future of the species and help the industry survive.

By the way, for all you players out there shopping for guitars....
...Quercus Rubra is the next Brazilian. Ask for it!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

No Hesh, it won't rubra the wrong way. In fact, it's relatively inexpensive, but has good sized pores to fill so requires a bit more work for finishing.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Having sawn a lot of stump BRW, I can tell you that four tons is not a hell of a lot of wood. If it's four tons of sawn and sized sets, that's one thing, but if it's billets and logs, it's not very much.

There is what I'd consider "gray market" wood coming up...the stump wood being reclaimed by legitimate sawyers and supply chain folks.   Most BTW trees were originally cut at "breast height"...about three feet above nominal ground level.   There are literally thousands and thousands of BRW stumps scattered about, many of which have not suffered too much rot.   There is usable wood going down about two feed into the earth, too, on a lot of these stumps.   Much of the stump wood has come up legitimately, much has come up not so legit.   And bear in mind that legitimate and ethical are not necessarily the same thing in cultures where bribes are often equal to or greater than some civil servant's pay check.   I think it's perfectly ethical to use reclaimed stump wood from trees cut down pre-CITES, whether or not "papers" come with the wood.

It's about time this happened. The article I read mentioned thirteen tons, but
over the course of the past four or five years which really isn't that much
either.

What caught my interest was this line.

"As part of this cooperative investigation, Service special agents executed
a federal search warrant (Thursday) at a location in central Massachusetts,"
the office said. The search warrant has been sealed by a court, and further
information was not available, the office said.

Any speculation who or where this could be?

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Sounds like the investigation is ongoing and they aren't releasing any info at this time.

I would have to think that of that 13 tons that they know about, some of it is going to the larger manufacturers....Taylor, Gibson, Martin, etc. I would have a hard time believing that 13 tons was only for supplying the hobby/smaller builders.

It will be very interesting to see how this shakes down..

_________________
http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

   I can tell you Martin is very particular and CF Martin does not buy any BRW that does not have legal documentation. If you think about it 13 tons isn't that much .1 tree may weight in at 4 tons.
   If you figure 1 builder per county per state in the US I don't think 13 tons would supply them. Ebay sales in BRW is where most of this went .
   I bought a 18 inch wide plank of BRW at an auction 4 years ago. The plank was 4 inches thick and 10 foot long. It took 2 of us to carry.
   It is a very heavy and dense wood.
john hall

I'd like to know who in MA got busted, too.

Its one thing to get BRW without papers. Its another to get it off ebay and have it shipped from Brazil. There was a recent thread here that got (rightfully) busted about some of these shady dealings.

I would say that at least in my experience, the hype of Brazilian rosewood is dying a fast death. Amazing that in the classical market no one seems to care anymore...

_________________
Instagram: @jfrenchluthier

I have my doubts that someone dealing in large quantities of the stuff is moving it via ebay. 13 tons sounds like that is what they can directly attribute to these guys...there's nothing to say it was 10 times that amount in reality. I would guess 13 tons was all they needed to document in order to justify a move against them.

Hopefully Martin and everyone else has their paperwork in order and the Brazilians are the ones who had their hands dirty.

I also agree that all of the hype regarding BRW is just that...there is a lot of wood that sounds good...especially when the right person uses it to make a guitar and then the result is paired with someone who plays well. I think the mythic claims attributed to BRW are nothing more than marketing. It sure does look cool tho!

_________________
http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

[QUOTE=tippie53]   Ebay sales in BRW is where most of this went.   john hall
[/QUOTE]

It's my understanding that Rodriguo was selling some very nice, high end sets... I don't think he was moving any of this on ebay.

.. and as far as the Massachussets connection.. isn't this where he was from?

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=jfrench] I would say that at least in my experience, the hype of Brazilian rosewood is dying a fast death. Amazing that in the classical market no one seems to care anymore... [/QUOTE]

To that point... I have to tell you....

I got a couple sets of Amazon rosewood from Todd @ Allied within the last couple of weeks and they are every bit as nice as BRW. Maybe better...

They don't smell quite as nice, but they are outstanding.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=Parser]
I also agree that all of the hype regarding BRW is just that...there is a lot of wood that sounds good...especially when the right person uses it to make a guitar and then the result is paired with someone who plays well. I think the mythic claims attributed to BRW are nothing more than marketing. It sure does look cool tho!
[/QUOTE]

Well, I know people would like to think that, but... it really is the real deal. I've never heard guitars that sound as good as guitars built with Brazilian Rosewood. That's not a coincidence. It's not to say that other woods aren't great also, but Brazilian has it's own unique sound that is the fantastic to my ear. There are other rosewoods that are probably awfully close to being its equal though, (Madrose, Amazon, Honduran) but even most of those are now listed with CITES.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."