Federal prosecutors in Brazil want 26 meat packing companies to pay a total of more than $200 million in fines for buying cattle raised illegally. The federal prosecutors’ office said in a statement that the Amazon Jungle states of Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Rondonia want the companies to pay 557 million reals ($278.5 million) for producing beef products from cattle raised in environmentally sensitive regions, indigenous reservations or at farms that have been blacklisted for using slave-like labor, reports the Associated Press.

It said that during the first nine months of 2012, the 26 companies bought and slaughtered almost 56,000 heads of cattle raised illegally. The one company named by the AP report is Brasil Foods, the country largest food company. It faces fines of $8.8 million. The company had no comment on the report.

Source: Associated Press