Forestry Law Enforcement Hands Over Two Suspects in Illegal Ebony Timber Case to East Seram District Prosecutor's Office

Sun, 08 Mar 2026, 19:07 WIB | By Reynaldi Andrian Pamungkas | Source: MEDIA_INDONESIA | Legal

Two suspects and evidential material (Tahap II) were handed over to the East Seram District Prosecutor’s Office in Maluku in connection with alleged circulation of ebony timber of the striped ebony or belo hitam variety and processed amara or ebony striped timber, transported from East Seram to Surabaya.

The handover was carried out by investigators from the Maluku and Papua Regional Forestry Enforcement Office (Mapua), accompanied by the Korwas PPNS of the Maluku Regional Police and the head of the Tipidter unit of Seram Bagian Timur Police.

Head of the Maluku and Papua Regional Forestry Enforcement Office, Fredrik E. Tumbel, said that law enforcement would continue in a professional manner and target all links in the illegal timber supply chain. ‘Law enforcement is targeted from upstream to downstream. Not only the perpetrators in the field, but also the players in the distribution networks of illegal timber will be dealt with in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations,’ he said on Sunday (8/3).

He explained that the Maluku and Papua Mapua Regional Office urged all parties to support forest protection by ensuring the legality of timber products and complying with forestry regulations.

He revealed that the two suspects handed over are NS and AW. Suspect NS is believed to have played an upstream role in East Seram in supplying and initiating transactions of striped ebony or belo hitam, with evidence including 44 timber pieces and financial transaction documents.

Meanwhile, suspect AW is believed to have played a downstream role in Surabaya by providing documents for the circulation of processed amara or striped ebony timber amounting to 110.4963 cubic metres, comprising 10 copies of the Certificate of Timber Harvest Legality (Sahnya Hasil Hutan Kayu Bulat) and 14 documents of Timber Processing Lists (Daftar Kayu Olahan).

‘The processed timber was shipped from Pelabuhan Sesar, Bula, East Seram Regency to Surabaya using the Kendhaga Nusantara 12 liner vessel,’ he explained.

All evidences have been handed over to the East Seram District Prosecutor’s Office as part of Tahap II.

‘Physically, the processed timber amounting to 110.4963 m³ remains under custody at a goods custody facility in Pasuruan, East Java, while the 44 timber pieces are currently stored in the warehouse of BLK owned by the East Seram Regency government,’ he said.

AW is charged under Article 88(1)(a) in conjunction with Article 16 and Article 94(1)(d) in conjunction with Article 19(f) of Law No. 18 of 2013 on Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction. NS is charged under Article 87(1)(b) in conjunction with Article 12(l) and/or Article 87(1)(c) in conjunction with Article 12(m) and Article 88(1)(a) in conjunction with Article 16 of Law No. 18 of 2013.

‘Penalties include up to five years’ imprisonment and fines of up to Rp2.5 billion,’ he concluded. (RK)

A Gerindra politician called on the Minister of Environment and Forestry to investigate companies involved in the activity and take firm action against those responsible for forest damage. Pratikno said that although the government’s current focus is on emergency response, rehabilitation and reconstruction planning is being prepared in parallel.

During 2025, Gakkum of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has handled several cases related to laundering of illegal timber around flood-affected areas in Sumatra.

Coast Guard (Bakamla) and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry have thwarted the transport of hundreds of logs from Selat Panjang, Meranti Islands Regency, Riau Province, to Batam.

Head of Meru Betiri National Park, RM Wiwied Widodo, praised the synergy and cross-agency collaboration.

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