The Jungle Beat Thursday, 17 November, 2005 2100 GMT on BBC Two

Deep in the Amazon, a battle is raging.

Armed with the latest satellite technology, helicopters and weapons, the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's enforcement agency, Ibama, are taking on the illegal loggers in the Amazon forests below.

We follow Walmir de Jesus, the head of Ibama, as he sends an inspection team into the remote sawmill town of Sao Domingos do Guapore.

He suspects it of buying timber stolen from neighbouring reserves.

His team of eight is almost immediately surrounded by 400 men, led by Deputy Mayor Jose Euripides Clemente, known as Lebrao.

They are prevented from inspecting the timber yards.

But when Walmir returns with an army convoy and 60 soldiers, things really begin to hot up.

Cat-and-mouse

Lebrao refused to accept his fine and is contesting it in court

Walmir and Lebrao are stuck together in the small town while Walmir's men carry out a forensic examination of all the sawmills.

Lebrao serves drinks to Walmir on his veranda... while the sawmills work at night to hide the evidence of illegal logging.

But Walmir is no fool and orders night raids, catching people in the act and confiscating bulldozers.

Will Walmir and Lebrao's strange "friendship" survive when it comes time for Walmir to declare his findings and hand out huge fines to the sawmill owners, including Lebrao himself?

Shot over a year, this film reveals the dangerous cat-and-mouse game being played out in one of the most beautiful and threatened places on Earth.