Another alleged illegal timber boss arrested

Another alleged illegal timber boss arrested

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police said they had arrested another Malaysian
citizen on Saturday for allegedly financing illegal logging in
the country's easternmost province of Papua.

The head of the government's anti-illegal logging task force,
Brig. Gen. Suharto, said that Tie Sing Yew, 54, was apprehended
near the Entikong border post in West Kalimantan province, where
he was attempting to cross into Malaysia's Sarawak state.

"Right now the suspect is still being detained by the East
Kalimantan Police. He will be brought to Jayapura on Sunday,"
Suharto said as quoted by Antara.

He said Tie was believed to be funding illegal logging and his
name had earlier been placed on the immigration blacklist.

Tie was suspected of masterminding the smuggling of illegally
logged timber from Papua to Malaysia, as well as running illegal
logging operations in Kalimantan.

Tie's arrest adds to a long list of Malaysian suspects being
detained by the Indonesian Police. Previously, the police
arrested nine other Malaysians and one South Korean citizen on
similar charges of financing illegal logging operations in Papua.

"He (Tie) almost escaped from our country, but the immigration
officials recognized him from the immigration blacklist," said
East Kalimantan Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Heru
Setiawan.

He said that Tie had attempted to return to Malaysia through
Entikong as he thought that the security there would not be so
tight.

After being questioned by the local police, Tie said he was
the president of CV Makmur Abadi Trading, based in Brunei
Darussalam, and owned 25 pieces of heavy equipment that was
suspected of being used in illegal logging.

Based on the results of police investigations, Tie is also
suspected of smuggling illegal timber from Papua to Malaysia
through Kalimantan.

However, Tie denied all the charges. He said he had not
realized that he had been placed on the immigration blacklist and
claimed to have away from Papua for around six months.

The government has said that illegal logging is causing the
country to lose over US$3 billion per year, with timber barons
now targeting Papua as the forests on Java and Sumatra islands
have already been plundered.

Rapid deforestation due to massive illegal logging has
produced devastating environmental consequences for both
Indonesia and the Southeast Asian region, causing floods and
landslides and shrouding nearby countries with haze from illegal
fires set to clear land.