KUALA LUMPUR: The East Kalimantan Police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 365,772 cubic meters of Indian rosewood, locally known as sonokeling, to Tawau, Malaysia.
“We boarded the KLM Satria Bahari boat near the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan on Feb. 25,” the police’s Adj. Sr. Comr. R. Djarot Agung Riadi said in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan here the other day.
Riadi said the KLM Satria Bahari, captained by Iwan, had sailed to Tarakan, North Kalimantan, from Probolinggo, East Java.
He said Satria Bahari’s trip was legal because the captain had shown a valid sail permit. However, as soon as it arrived at Tarakan, the vessel continued its trip to Tawau without mooring at Tarakan Port.
“We intercepted the Satria Bahari when it was about to enter Sipadan-Ligitan waters at 10 a.m. local time. We found the ship’s captain did not have valid documents for its trip to Tawau,” Riadi said, adding that the ship was carrying a large number of sonokeling logs.
Based on information provided by the ship’s captain, the police obtained the name of the owner of the smuggled-wood – Wahab – who lived in Tawau. The police also found the Stripes of Glory, the Malaysian national flag, during their search of the vessel.
The police are charging the alleged smugglers with articles 12 and 86 of Law No.18/2013 on deforestation prevention and elimination.
“If found guilty, they will face a minimum sentence of one year imprisonment and a maximum five years in prison. They will be ordered to pay a fine of Rp 500 million [US$38,497] at a minimum or Rp 2.5 billion at a maximum,” said Riadi.
