Enviro News Asia, North Sumatra– Forestry law enforcement authorities carried out an operation to curb the growing practice of illegal timber laundering and unauthorized forest product extraction. The action formed part of broader efforts to dismantle organized forest crime networks operating in Indonesia.
The Ministry of Forestry, through its Directorate General of Law Enforcement (Gakkum), conducted the operation targeting suspected illegal harvesting and processing activities conducted without valid permits or approval from authorized officials.
The enforcement action took place in South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra Province, focusing on a Timber Collection Point (TPK) operated under a Private Forest Utilization Permit (PHAT) registered under the name JAM. Investigators also extended inspections to surrounding forest areas outside the designated PHAT site.
The operation occurred in December 2025, with evidence secured and sealed on 13 December 2025 as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Forestry law enforcement officers secured more than 60 logs, approximately 150 pieces of processed timber, one Komatsu PC 200 excavator, one damaged bulldozer, one damaged timber transport truck, two log-splitting machines, one planing machine, and one drilling machine at the TPK PHAT JAM site.
In addition to the main location, officers discovered another PC 200 excavator, manufactured by Hitachi, and scattered logs outside the PHAT area. The excavator was found inside forest land in the upper Batang Toru River area, approximately eight kilometers from the registered timber collection point, and was suspected to be linked to the same operation.
Investigators sealed all evidence at the site, while the Komatsu excavator, along with logs and processed timber, was transported and temporarily stored at the South Tapanuli Public Works Office for further legal proceedings.
Director General of Forestry Law Enforcement Dwi Januanto Nugroho stated that illegal timber laundering remains a persistent modus operandi used to disguise unlawfully harvested timber as legal products through the misuse of timber administration systems. He emphasized that forestry law enforcement frameworks apply comprehensively, covering forest areas, forest resources, and the circulation of forest products, in accordance with prevailing laws and regulations. (*)
