Inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Indonesian National Police (INP)’s Criminal Investigation Agency’s Directorate for Specific Crimes is investigating the origin of large timber logs carried by recent floods across Sumatra. 

“The investigation is ongoing,” said Brigadier General Moh. Irham, the Director for Specific Crimes, on Tuesday (2/12/2025), confirming that the source of the logs remains unknown.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry is conducting a parallel inquiry to determine whether the wood came from natural debris, legally cleared land, or illegal logging. 

The Ministry of Forestry’s Director General of Law Enforcement Dwi Januanto Nugroho stressed that his office is examining all potential violations professionally, saying that their clarification “was never intended to dismiss the possibility of illegal practices behind the logs.”

Authorities noted several illegal timber and logs cases uncovered in 2025, including 86.6 cubic meters of illicit timber and logs found in Central Aceh in June and a major logging operation in Solok in August involving 152 logs and heavy machinery. 

Investigators warn that forged or misused official documents are increasingly used to disguise illegal timber and logs flows.

(mg/inp/pr/rs)