Police help illegal loggers

JAKARTA: The National Police headquarters have stated that two Papua police officers, who have been detained for their alleged role in illegal logging in the province, forged documents to assist the financial backers of the illegal activity.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo told reporters on Tuesday that Comr. Hariyanto had forged forest report documents that were usually issued by the provincial office of the Ministry of Forestry.

Aryanto added that Adj. Comr. Sumadi also forged travel waybills to make it easier to transport illegally obtained timber from one place to another, or to smuggle the timber out of the country.

Apart from the two officers, four other middle-ranking officers are still under investigation for allegedly taking bribes. However, they have not yet been named suspects. -- JP