Passage of illegal timber intercepted

BATAM, Riau Islands: Police officers have intercepted a tugboat and a ship carrying 94 containers of processed timber in Karimun Kecil waters, Karimun in the Riau Islands.

The ships and crew were apprehended on Sunday for transporting timber without the proper documentation, said Riau Islands Police chief of detectives Adj. Sr. Comr. Wawan Irawan.

It is believed that most of the containers and their contents belonged to a cooperative run by the Wirabima Resort Military Command based in Pekanbaru, Riau. Other containers belonged to eight local private companies.

Marianto, a crew member, said he and eight other men working on the ship were unaware of the containers' contents. He said he was only told by his boss to transport the containers to Singapore. -- JP