BEIJING: Chinese Customs seized over 10,000 logs, an excavator, trailers, trucks, Pajero vehicles, cranes and bicycles during the operation and arrested 138 Chinese citizens.
They have been charged under section 13 (a) of the immigration law in addition to section 6 (a) of the Public Property Protection Act, according to an official from the Forestry Department.
Recently, the authority filed a lawsuit against the illegal timber extraction gang under section 6 (a). Now the Forestry Department is seeking legal advice to prosecute them in court. During the court trial, they will be prosecuted under the Forestry Act.
The Chinese suspects will be sentenced to ten years in prison if they are found guilty by the court.
The inspection team carried out another search operation in Waingmaw Township and are interrogating Chinese citizens detained in prisons in Kachin State, according to officials from the Kachin State government.
According to the preliminary inspection, the gang carried out illegal timber extraction every year.
The Kachin State government has confirmed that the government will also charge them with Anti-Narcotic Drugs Law due to the seizure of opium and narcotic drugs during the raid.
China has called for fair handling of its citizens and the repayment of the seized equipment.
According to an official from the Forestry Department, since 2012, Chinese citizens have been carrying out illegal extraction of natural resources including timbers in Myanmar.
In the past, Chinese citizens who are involved in such case will face at least one-year jail term or at most five-year jail term. But now they face imprisonment, heavy fines and deportations.
China is the biggest illegal timber smuggling country in the world, earning about US$7 billion per year. About 90 percent of smuggled timbers are from Myanmar, according to the Myanmar Forestry Association.
