By Raymond Colitt

BRASILIA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian police seized the equivalent of 500 trucks of timber from illegal sawmills in a huge raid in the Amazon on Wednesday, one of the biggest operations yet in the battle against deforestation, a government official said.

The raid followed official figures released in January that showed an increase in deforestation rates since last August after a three-year decline.

The setback has caused a rift in the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Environmentalists blame cattle ranchers and farmers for pushing deeper into the rain forest in search of cheap land after it has been cleared by loggers.

But the agriculture ministry has rejected such claims, saying there was no evidence linking recent deforestation to agriculture.

About 140 officers raided eight sawmills in the town of Tailandia, some 175 miles (280 km) southeast of Para state capital Belem on Wednesday. They confiscated 10,000 cubic meters of tropical timber chopped down illegally, a spokeswoman for the state environment office said.

"It's one of the biggest operations ever against sawmills," spokeswoman Ivanette Motta said.

Tailandia, with 140 sawmills, is at the heart of an intense dispute in the Amazon for land and natural resources which is often settled by hired gunmen.

It is one of Brazil's most violent municipalities, according to official statistics on per capita homicides.

Police also shut down 43 furnaces to make charcoal from wood and detained several people for questioning.

(Reporting by Raymond Colitt; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Vicki Allen)

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