Central Kalimantan Police Confiscate 400 Logs Of Illegal Logging, Funders Are Being Hunted

JAKARTA - The Polairud Directorate of the Central Kalimantan Police revealed a criminal act of transporting illegal timber or illegal logging with evidence of 400 undocumented logs in the Mentaya River, East Kotawaringin Regency.

"This is still in the process of further investigation. It is still being developed regarding where this wood will be sold and who is the funder. Hopefully we can reveal this case as much as possible until we find the network," said Central Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Dedi Prasetyo in Sampit as reported by Antara, Saturday. , June 26.

The Kapolda was accompanied by Irwasda Kombes Pol Iman Prijantoro and Director Polairud Kombes Pol Pitoyo Agung Yuwono when giving a press statement at the Central Kalimantan Police Ditpolairud Command Headquarters in Belanti Hamlet, Mentawa Baru District, Ketapang.

Dedi explained that the disclosure of this illegal logging case occurred on June 9 last. The location is in the Mentaya River Basin, Kenyala Village, Kota Besi District, which is about 80 kilometers from the Ditpolairud Command Headquarters.

The Meranti wood is thought to have come from the forest in the Kenyala Village area. The wooden raft was found in the estuary, before being pulled across to the Mentaya River from a small creek in Kenyala.

During the action, the police arrested a man with the initials K (39) who was pulling the wooden raft. K is a resident of Tumbang Penyehuan Village, Bukit Santuai District, and has now been named a suspect.

The police confiscated 400 sticks or 191.16 cubic meters of suspected illegal wood and a kelotok as evidence in the case. Now the log raft has been secured next to the Ditpolairud pier of the Central Kalimantan Police.

"The articles that have been violated are Article 83 paragraph (1) letter b in conjunction with Article 12 letter e and Article 88 paragraph (1) letter a in conjunction with the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 18 of 2013 concerning Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction," said Dedi affirmed.

Meanwhile, Director of Polairud, Kombes Pitoyo Agung Yuwono, added that the disclosure of illegal timber originated from public information. His party then developed an investigation to trace the perpetrator's network.

"The suspect is the person who pulled or transported the funds. The identity bag has been pocketed for the fund holder. It's not possible if it's the first time but has dared to transport hundreds of sticks. We will look for other evidence to reveal how many times the suspect has actually done this," he said.

Pitoyo Agung said that his party is still open to the public who know and want to provide additional information in the investigation of this case.

"Currently, there is only one suspect. However, there is still an opportunity for us to identify other suspects, so we are still exploring through investigations," said Pitoyo Agung.

As a result of the illegal logging and timber business, the state suffered losses from unpaid funds to the state in the form of forest resource provision funds (PSDH) of Rp8,557,870 and reforestation funds (DR) of 2,225.97 US dollars.

Ditpolairud has applied for permission to the Sampit District Court to auction the confiscated timber. Coordination is also carried out with the State Assets and Auction Service Office before the auction is announced to the public.