Riau Islands Police Arrest 5 Investors of Illegal Tin Mining

The Riau Islands Police Chief Inspector General of Tabana Bangun showed evidence of illegal tin sand mining. (ANTARA)

BATAM - Riau Islands Police have arrested five suspects in the illegal tin sand mining case in Boyan Village, Batu Berdaun Village, Singkep District, Lingga Regency, Riau Islands Province.

Kapolda Kepri Inspector General Pol Tabana Bangun said the five suspects arrested were the owners of the capital and the owner of the illegal tin sand mining machine.

"The five suspected tin sand miners without (illegal) permits, namely JH, D, S, Z and R. They were arrested by a joint team from the Special Crime Directorate of the Riau Islands Police while they were operating", said the regional police chief quoted by ANTARA on Wednesday February 15.

From the arrest, he said, officers managed to secure evidence in the form of mining equipment, namely 5 dompeng machines, 2 robin machines, 4 4-inch paralon pipes, 4 alkon hoses or 4-inch cloth, 3 hoes and 1 bucket filled with sand. tin.

He stated that the five suspects committed acts against the law as stipulated in Article 158 of Law No. 3 of 2020 concerning Minerba (minerals and coal) which carries a threat of imprisonment of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to IDR 100 billion.

"In handling this, we hope that mining carried out by certain parties must follow the provisions set by the government, namely related to mining administration", he said.

In the same place, the Director of Special Criminal Research at the Riau Islands Police, Kombes Nasriadi, explained that the crackdown on illegal mining was the attention of the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) to enforce the law, to prevent activities that could harm the state.

"Previously we arrested 14 people, but of that number, we sorted out which were the owners of capital and workers. The five suspects are owners of capital and owners of tin sand mining machines", he said.

He said the five suspects were responsible for the illegal tin sand mining.

As for the distribution, he said that currently, his party is still carrying out in-depth investigations because when an inspection was carried out at one of the warehouses in Lingga, the warehouse was empty.

"This means that we are still investigating who owns the warehouse and to which company they are selling this tin sand", he said.