One More Suspect Of Illegal Timber Smuggling In Central Sulawesi

Illegal timber smuggling suspect/ Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The Law Enforcement Center (Gakkum) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) for the Sulawesi Region has again named one person as a suspect for the smuggling and ownership of hundreds of illegal logs.

"The suspect has the initials AA, 36 years old. He is known to be the owner of the illegal timber," said Head of the Sulawesi KLHK Office, Dodi Kurniawan, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, quoted Saturday, October 23.

The determination of the suspect's status, he said, was based on the results of the AA's investigation and examination by the KLHK Gakkum investigation team for the ownership of hundreds of illegally processed wood.

The suspect is a resident of Tojo Una-una Regency, Central Sulawesi Province as the owner of hundreds of illegal wood items that are still in the form of stilts or square-shaped wood processed from the forest.

As many as 22 cubic meters of evidence were confiscated with a total of 165 pieces of Indah wood and one Hino truck.

As for another suspect, the initials JT (36), he said, who played the role of a truck driver, had previously been named a suspect by investigators because it was proven that he was involved in the timber smuggling process.

"The suspects are now being held in custody at the South Sulawesi Regional Police Office to participate in the trial process later. They are charged with Article 88 paragraph 1 of Law Number 18 of 2013 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction, with a maximum imprisonment of five years, a maximum fine of Rp. 5 billion," he asserted. Previously, officials from Balai Gakkum KLHK Sulawesi Region managed to thwart the smuggling of hundreds of illegal logs from Central Sulawesi to South Sulawesi.

The disclosure of this case began when the Gakkum officers carried out routine operations at the border of the axis road towards Palopo Larompong, Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi.

When the truck driven by JT passed by the operation site, it was caught carrying hundreds of processed wood from the direction of Central Sulawesi. This illegal cargo of wood also does not have official documents and is planned to be sent to Jeneponto Regency, South Sulawesi to be sold to buyers.