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Air Force Trucks Used to Transport Illegal Wood
Tuesday, 20 September, 2005 | 20:13 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Ngawi, East Java:Trucks owned by the Indonesian Air Force’s Iswahyudi Madiun airport in East Java have been caught by officials transporting 13,825 pieces, around 4.5 cubic meters, of illegal teak.

The trucks were stopped by a joint team from the Military Police and the Ngawi KPH Forestry Office in Jublek hamlet, Gunung Sari village, near Padas, Ngawi regency at 4am on Sunday (18/09).

Master sergeant MYT and sergeant second-class KTK, who were driving the trucks, could not show any documentation regarding the legality of the wood.

“When we questioned them, the two men declined to disclose from where and to where the illegal wood was being transported,” said Ngawi military police sub commander in Ngawi First Lieutenant CPM Bagyo on Monday (19/09).

According to adjutant Haris Suseno, a forestry office security coordinator at KPH Ngawi, the arrest is evidence that there has been illegal logging in the forests.

“This is an initial indication that TNI personnel have been involved in illegal logging cases,” stated Suseno.
(Rohman Taufiq-Tempo News Room)