Wood smuggled in coffin

Wood smuggled in coffin

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Police engaged in a high-speed chase with an ambulance carrying a group of people who appeared to be crying hysterically around a coffin.

When the ambulance finally pulled over to the roadside and the police asked for the identity of the deceased, the "mourners" were silent and looked at each other.

But they couldn't refuse when the police officers asked them to open the coffin. The content: sandalwood.

"The crooks meant to smuggle the sandalwood overseas," a police officer involved in last week's real-life street drama told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Frustrated by the continuing theft of the protected sandalwood, Governor Herman Musakabe has asked the police and related government agencies to improve coordination.

Chief of the provincial legislative council Daniel Adoe called for harsh punishment for those involved in sandalwood theft, including corrupt officials. (yac/pan)