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Arrest of Malaysian loggers made in Indonesian territory: TNI
Illegal logging case, while “amicably” resolved, still raises suspicion of neighbor.
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Illegal goods: A worker piles up sonokeling wood logs confiscated by authorities during an operation in April against illegal logging activities in the Way Waya protected forest in Sendang Dadi, Central Lampung. (Antara/Ardiansyah)
T
he Indonesian Military (TNI) said it arrested five Malaysians on the Indonesian side of Borneo Island, refuting claims that the arrests were made on Malaysian territory.
The men were caught red handed loading illegally logged wooden blocks onto their vehicle in the West Kalimantan side of the border on Dec. 11, said Inf. Col. Aulia Fahmi Dalimunthe, the chief spokesperson for the Tanjungpura/XII regional military command.
“The arrest of the five Malaysians […] occurred in the exact vicinity of the G.648 pillar, which is the Enteli border post’s area of responsibility,” Aulia said in a statement received by The Jakarta Post on Monday.
It was a follow-up to a patrol that the TNI had conducted a few days earlier, during which officers discovered fragments of chopped wood, sawdust and stumps, as well as the tire tracks of a car on "a path that should not be used by four-wheeled vehicles", he said.
TNI officers subsequently met their Malaysian counterparts on Dec. 16 to settle the case, Aulia added, claiming that TNI personnel would not dare cross into Malaysian territory, as reported by Malaysian local media on Sunday.
The New Straits Times reported that the Malaysian nationals were arrested as they harvested wood in Wong Rangkai forest near Kampung Danau Melikin, 400 meters from the Serian-Kalimantan border, and that TNI personnel had encroached on Malaysian territory to "kidnap the citizens for ransom".
Of the five, three were held overnight by the soldiers, while two, who are brothers, were released in the evening. They were allegedly told to inform the families of the hostages to hand over 10,000 ringgit (US$2,390) and two new chainsaws that very night, the report said.
