One arrested over stolen wood

JAKARTA (JP): Tanjung Priok Port (KP3) Police arrested on Sunday night a suspect in an alleged attempt to smuggle four shipping containers of some 100 cubic meters of expensive Kalimantan wood, worth billions of rupiah, into the capital.

KP3 police chief Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang identified the suspect as Rosihan Hasri, 46, a resident of Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, who was still under police interrogation on Monday.

"We received information from nearby residents about this. The suspect told us that the containers were filled with salted fish. Then again, had he told us the containers were filled with expensive Kamper (camphor) and Meranti (morantee) wood, we would have arrested him sooner," Aritonang laughingly told reporters.

The containers were being carried on the Adiguna Margaraya ship. The documents on the containers indicated that they were filled with chalk and salted fish.

Separately, Rosihan told reporters that the wood had been ordered by someone in the lumber business who lives in the area of Jl. Industri V of Tangerang.

In a separate development, North Jakarta police chief Col. Wisjnu Amat Sastro said police arrested a suspect on Monday for alleged possession of 881 pieces of expensive wood from Kalimantan, worth billions of rupiah. (ylt)