Central Java Police Arrest Two Illegal Sand and Soil Mining Operators in Kendal and Boyolali

SEMARANG — Central Java Regional Police (Polda Jateng) have arrested two owners or operators of illegal sand and landfill soil mining operations in Boyolali and Kendal regencies. Beyond causing material losses, the activities were deemed to have placed residents at risk of disaster impacts.

Central Java Police Special Criminal Investigation Director Commissioner Djoko Julianto said the uncovering of the illegal mining cases in Boyolali and Kendal originated from community reports. In Kendal, the illegal sand mine was located in Gowok Hamlet, Ngaben Village, Boja District. The suspect detained is R (aged 52).

Meanwhile in Boyolali, the illegal landfill soil mine was situated in Karanggeneng Village, Boyolali District. The suspect is S (aged 47). Djoko revealed that the mining activities carried out by R and S had been running for two months and one week respectively.

“They conducted this on a retail basis. They would open a location, then vehicles would come to purchase at the site. So they opened new land, the community informed us, we conducted investigative efforts, and we immediately secured both different locations,” Djoko explained during a press briefing at the Central Java Police Special Criminal Investigation Directorate office in Semarang on Monday (23/2/2026).

He said the price of sand from the illegal mine in Kendal was sold at Rp800,000 per truckload, whilst landfill soil in Boyolali was priced at Rp165,000 per truckload. Djoko noted that suspect S’s modus operandi for conducting illegal mining in Boyolali was land levelling.

From the illegal landfill soil mine in Boyolali, Central Java Police seized one Hyundai 210 excavator unit, two haulage trucks, and a truckload tally book. The illegal mining activity there had only been running for six days but had already produced 449 truckloads, with potential state losses reaching Rp100 million.