JAKARTA - The rampant practice of illegal gold mining in West Sumatra (Sumbar) is considered impossible to take place without the permission or protection of certain parties.
The assessment was conveyed by Member of the Indonesian Parliament Andre Rosiade when coordinating with the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police, especially the Special Criminal Investigation Directorate (Dittipidter), at the National Police Headquarters, Jakarta.
The coordination was carried out to encourage the National Police Headquarters to immediately send a team and take firm action against the illegal gold mining network, which has been assessed to be allowed to operate in a number of areas in West Sumatra.
Andre said that illegal mining activities have been going on for years on a massive and open scale, especially in Pasaman Regency, West Pasaman, South Solok, and Sijunjung.
"This has become a routine disease and is taking place massively. All people know. If this condition is like this, it is very possible that there are parties who support it," Andre told the media at the Bareskrim Polri Building, South Jakarta, Monday, January 12, 2026.
He emphasized that as a representative of the people, he was obliged to convey the aspirations and concerns of the community which had been directly affected, both by environmental damage and social problems caused by illegal mining activities.
According to Andre, even though it does not involve large corporations like in other areas, illegal gold mining practices in West Sumatra are still carried out by players with strong capital. In fact, the number of heavy equipment used can reach dozens of units.
"The players are there. There are local people, there are also people from outside the area. The heavy equipment can be dozens," he said.
Therefore, Andre asked the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police not only to prosecute perpetrators in the field, but also to investigate intellectual actors and parties who are suspected of providing protection for illegal activities.
"Including if there are any backers, that must also be dealt with. Don't just those below," he said.
He added that coordination with the Criminal Investigation Unit was also carried out to monitor the legal process so that it would run quickly and not stop at the case of abuse against Nenek Saudah alone which had surfaced to the public.
"It just so happens that the victim is still alive so this case was uncovered. If not, it could have been closed," he said.
Andre hopes that law enforcement will be carried out thoroughly and transparently in order to provide a deterrent effect and really end the practice of illegal mining which has long damaged the environment and harmed the people in West Sumatra.
Meanwhile, the Director of Special Criminal Cases (Dirttipidter) of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police, Brigjen Pol Irhami, stated that his party had followed up on the aspirations and immediately took concrete steps on the ground.
"Thank you for the arrival of Mr. Andre Rosiade who represents the community leaders of West Sumatra. We have been ordered by the leadership, in this case the Wakabareskrim, and we have sent a team to West Sumatra to enforce the law regarding illegal mines, especially gold mining," said Irhami.
He emphasized that the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police opened the public participation in efforts to eradicate illegal mines.
"Therefore, we ask for the support of media colleagues as social control. If you have information related to the perpetrators or illegal mining networks, please tell us," he said.
Irhami added that the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police had also opened a complaint service through a hotline that had been announced to the public.
"We have provided a hotline and complaint number. People who have information are asked to immediately report it so that we can follow up. We will enforce the law firmly, professionally, and fairly," he concluded.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
