In all likelihood, the illegal quarry covering at least ten hectares could not have been established in a few days or even a few months. The illegal excavators had been operating on a grand scale for at least a year and, most shockingly, had been doing so without being disturbed by anyone.

The temptation to extract as much valuable construction material as possible was so great that, in their pursuit of ever-increasing volumes of material, the excavators had not hesitated to dig even underneath a high-voltage overhead power line, despite this being prohibited under the Protection Zones Law.

To drain groundwater that had at some point hindered more efficient extraction of the material, a trench several metres deep was dug, devastating the bank of the Abava River, where any form of construction work is already legally prohibited.