Police hunt three fugitives in Sumatra elephant poaching case

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Chief of Public Relations Division of the Indonesian Police, Inspector General Johnny Eddizon Isir, stated that the Riau regional police are still hunting three individuals who have been on the wanted persons list (DPO) in the Sumatra elephant poaching case in Pelalawan Regency. The three are suspected to be key members of an organised cross-provincial wildlife-poaching network that had killed an elephant in early February 2026. In the disclosure of this case, police have named 15 people as suspects. “With 15 suspects already detained and three DPOs still being hunted, the state reiterates its commitment to be present, to take action, and to safeguard Indonesia’s biodiversity from illegal practices that ruin the future,” Isir said in a statement on Tuesday (3/3/2026). Isir also attended the press conference held at the Riau Regional Police Headquarters (Mapolda Riau). According to him, the investigation combines crime-scene processing, ballistic analysis, digital forensics, GPS collar analysis, and mapping of the perpetrators’ network. “This is not ordinary handling. We are ensuring that the case’s construction is strong in law and based on scientific evidence,” he asserted. The Director of Special Criminal Investigation (Reserse Kriminal Khusus) of Riau Police, Kombes Ade Kuncoro, revealed that a fugitive with the initials AN is suspected to be the executor of the elephant shooting that occurred on 25 January 2026 at around 15:00 WIB. According to investigators, AN shot the elephant twice in the head. Together with another suspect, he then cut off the head of the protected animal to take tusks weighing about 7.6 kilograms. The tusks were then sent by air cargo to Jakarta and subsequently transported to Surabaya using rail cargo services. Upon arrival in Central Java, the value of the transaction increased to more than Rp 125 million. Some of the tusks had even been processed into 63 cigarette tubes before being sold again.