Ministry of Environment and Forestry arrests illegal logger in Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park area

Jakarta (ANTARA) — The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Kemenhut) has secured an illegal logger in the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park forest area in Riau, identified by the initials AR, who was caught red-handed carrying timber obtained from the illicit activity. “We have instructed investigators to pursue other perpetrators involved in the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park area, which is a habitat for the Sumatran elephants and Sumatran tigers,” said Hari Novianto, Head of the Forest Law Enforcement Agency (Gakkum) for the Sumatra region, in a Jakarta-confirmed statement on Friday. He explained that the arrest began when the patrol team of the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park Authority conducted area patrol in the Talang Lakat Resort on 28 February 2026. In the operation, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry personnel encountered seven individuals riding motorcycles loaded with illegally processed timber of the tembalun type believed to have come from illegal logging within the TNBT area. During the ambush, one suspect, AR, was captured while six others fled into the forest undergrowth. AR and the seven motorcycles with timber as evidence were handed over to the Sumatra Gakkum Office for further legal processing, while the other six suspects have been identified and are currently being pursued. The group is suspected of repeated logging activity, potentially damaging the conservation area’s ecosystem. The suspect AR has been detained since Monday (2 May) at the Riau Police detention centre. Based on the outcome of a case review with two sufficient pieces of evidence, AR faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and a fine.