Inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta.  The Indonesian National Police are investigating the import permit used by PT Sumber Hidup Chemindo (SHC) in connection with a major illegal cyanide distribution case uncovered earlier this month.

“We will dig deeper into the import licensing, including the general import quota that SHC relied on,” said Brigadier General Nunung Syaifuddin, the Director of Special Crimes at the INP Criminal Investigation Agency on Wednesday (14/5/2025), as quoted by antaranews.com.

Authorities suspect the company used an expired permit belonging to a defunct mining company to import cyanide from China. Official import rights in Indonesia are currently held by two state-owned companies: PT PPI and PT Sarinah.

The police revealed that SHC allegedly distributed 494.4 tons of cyanide—nearly 10,000 drums—to illegal gold miners across Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, and Central Kalimantan. To avoid detection, the chemicals were repackaged, sometimes into drums bearing state-owned company logos.

SHC director Steven Sinugroho has been named a suspect and faces up to five years in prison or a Rp 2 billion fine.

(mg/inp/pr/nm)