Kalimantan timber seized at port
JAKARTA (JP): Owners of some 900-cubic meters of wooden planks, an illegal shipment from Kalimantan seized by police at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta two days ago, were yet to claim the material, an officer said on Sunday.
Chief of Jakarta Police detective Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said the different types of timber were being held at City Police Headquarters on Jl. Sudirman in South Jakarta.
Alex said police were still tracing the whereabouts of the owners.
Total value of the planks netted in the raid -- one of the biggest seizures of such material in the past few years -- has not been estimated.
The officer said the smuggling attempt was foiled early Friday due to a tip-off from Kalimantan police, who notified Jakarta that ships carrying timber without proper documents from Kalimantan often unloaded the illegal materials at the Jakarta port.
"On Thursday, we sent our detectives to wait at Tanjung Priok port," Alex said.
On Friday morning, four small motorized vessels -- Sofa, Marwa, Fajar Illahi and Murah Barokah -- docked at the port.
The police handcuffed crew from the vessels shortly after they unloaded the wood.
"The crew were taking the planks from the ships to waiting trucks," Alex said.
He said crew from all four vessels were released once police were satisfied they could not provide information about ownership of the materials.
"They're just ordered to transport, load and unload (the goods)."
A senior captain, Salim, claimed to be illiterate and said he did not know the Kalimantan documents he brought with him were inadequate, Alex said.
He said the crew were told to ship the wood to a courier company in Tanjung Priok, belonging to Fakhrudin alias Faruk.
Faruk was summoned for questioning on Sunday, but police said no helpful information had been obtained in the interview.
"He first acknowledged that the wood was his, but later he said he remembered the wood was ordered by timber businessman Haji Ismail, a resident of Pondok Gede in East Jakarta."
He said the latter was scheduled for questioning on Monday.
City police detective of special crime units Lt. Col. Winarno said wood illegally shipped from outside Java regularly entered the capital.
He said although police were able to detect such crimes, they had difficulty investigating the cases due to a lack of coordination from the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations and Tanjung Priok port officials.
"This time, we directly handled (the case), because no measures were taken by the ministry and port officials prior to our official notification," Winarno said.(emf)