KLHK Holds 1 Illegal Gold Mining Investor At The North Sumatra Star Girls TN, 1 More Is Still Being Pursued

The KLHK GAKKUM team during the control of illegal mining activities in North Konawe, including in the PT Antam IUP (ANTARA/HO-GAKKUM KLHK) area.

Investigators from the Law Enforcement Center of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) in the Sumatra region have detained illegal gold mining investors at Batang Gadis National Park (TN), Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra (North Sumatra).

Director General of Environmental and Forestry Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Rasio Ridho Sani, said the perpetrator with the initials MSN (37) was detained at the North Sumatra Regional Police after being named a suspect on February 1, 2023.

He added that other intellectual actors in this case, the initials MH (49), were still being hunted down.

"Illegal mining crimes are serious crimes, crimes that damage the environment and forest sustainability, harm the state and threaten people's lives. There is no other choice, strict and just law enforcement is a form of state alignment with the rights of society and environmental and forestry sustainability," he said in Jakarta, Tuesday, February 14, was confiscated by Antara.

According to him, illegal mining actors must be dealt with firmly and punished maximally in order to provide a deterrent effect because their activities not only damage forests but also forms of crimes against mineral resources.

"I have ordered investigators to coordinate with other law enforcement officers to impose multiple crimes on the perpetrators," said Rasio.

The officers secured evidence in the form of three excavator units that had been confiscated since May 23, 2022. The evidence is still being deposited at the Batang Gadis National Park Office.

MSN faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum fine of IDR 7.5 billion due to the illegal mining case.

Investigators are investigating the suspect's crimes related to the crime of environmental destruction with a minimum imprisonment of three years and a maximum of ten years with a maximum fine of IDR 3 billion and a maximum of IDR 10 billion.

Head of the KLHK Law Enforcement Center for the Sumatra Region, Subhan, said the case began with a repressive forest security operation carried out by the KLHK Law Enforcement Center Operation Team for the Sumatra Region together with the Batang Gadis National Park Office.

On May 13, 2022, at around 16.30 WIB, they found three excavator units along with three operators and one helper who was dredging the land on the Batang Bangko River.

The three operators are suspected of illegally mining in the Batang Gadis National Park area. Workers were unable to show permission to work on land at that location, so the team secured and brought three excavators to the Batang Gadis National Park Office.

Officers dug up information from the three operators, then they returned them to their respective families. Furthermore, investigators collected materials and information to find the main actor and intellectual actor of the illegal gold miner.

"We are still coordinating with the North Sumatra Police in order to find the MH suspect and develop the possibility of the involvement of other parties in the complete disclosure of this case," said Subhan.

"This enforcement effort is expected to have an impact on stopping mining activities without permits or other illegal activities in the Batang Gadis National Park area, because these activities have the potential to damage the ecosystem and cause environmental damage," he concluded.