JAKARTA - The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has secured a perpetrator of illegal logging in the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park (TNBT) forest area in Riau with the initials AR who was caught red-handed carrying wood from illegal activities.
"We have ordered investigators to pursue other perpetrators involved in the Bukit Tiga Puluh TN area, which is the habitat of Sumatran elephants and Sumatran tigers," said Head of the Forestry Law Enforcement Agency (Gakkum) for the Sumatra Region, Hari Novianto, as reported by ANTARA, Friday, March 6.
He explained that the arrest of the perpetrator began when the patrol team of the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park Office carried out a patrol in the Talang Lakat Resort on February 28, 2026.
In the operation, the Ministry of Finance found seven perpetrators who were riding motorcycles loaded with illegal processed wood of the type of tembalun which was suspected to have come from illegal logging in the TNBT Area.
At the time of the ambush, one perpetrator, namely AR, was arrested while the other six perpetrators jumped and fled into the bushes.
AR and the evidence of seven motorbikes loaded with wood were then handed over to the Sumatra Gakkum Police for further legal proceedings, while the other six perpetrators have been identified and are currently being pursued. The group is suspected of having logged repeatedly, potentially causing damage to the ecosystem of the TNBT conservation area.
The suspect AR himself has been detained since Monday (2/5) at the Riau Police Detention Center. Based on the results of the title of the case with two sufficient evidence, the suspect AR is threatened with a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine.
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