Enviro News Asia, West Sumatra — Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry announced that investigators have completed the case file for a major illegal logging operation in the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, and are preparing to hand it over to state prosecutors. The Directorate General of Forest Law Enforcement (Gakkumhut), working with the national prosecution service, named IM (29), President Director of PT BRN, as a suspect responsible for directing the operation on October 2, 2025.
Authorities secured extensive evidence during the investigation, including 17 heavy machines, nine logging trucks, and 2,287 logs with a total volume of 435.62 cubic meters. Additional enforcement efforts in Gresik on October 11 recovered a tugboat, a barge, and 1,199 logs amounting to 5,342.45 cubic meters of timber.
Director General of Forest Law Enforcement Dwi Januanto Nugroho said the coordinated operations from Mentawai to Gresik represent a state-driven effort to close gaps that enable forest destruction. He noted that criminal prosecution proceeds alongside permit reviews, administrative sanctions, and the potential revocation of business licenses.
Dwi emphasized the need for strict verification of land tenure documents to prevent falsification and misuse of legal channels to disguise illegal timber. He added that the ministry has frozen several timber-use permits on problematic privately owned lands and now requires tighter verification by provincial forestry offices.
He said future oversight of forestry businesses will rely on traceability and measurable compliance, with violators facing administrative, civil, and criminal consequences. These measures, he added, aim to ensure fair governance and legal certainty for compliant companies while safeguarding public benefits from forest resources.
Director of Forest Crime Enforcement Rudianto Saragih Napitu stated that PT BRN is suspected of running an organized illegal logging operation in Sipora Forest between 2022 and 2025. Investigators found evidence of timber extraction outside valid land-tenure areas, including on unallocated lands and in designated production forest zones. He said the company allegedly manipulated forest-product certification documents to make illegal timber appear lawful.
The suspect was detained following the seizure of evidence during a joint enforcement operation by the Directorate of Forest Crime Enforcement and the Garuda PKH Task Force in Betumonga Village, North Sipora District. All evidence remains secured at the crime scene, while IM is held at the West Sumatra detention facility.
The estimated state loss from resource rent and forestry fees totals Rp 1.44 billion, excluding significant environmental damage. Preliminary assessments indicate that overall losses—including ecological degradation and increased hydrometeorological risks—could reach Rp 447.09 billion. (*)
