JAKARTA (AFP) — Three Indonesian police officers have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in illegal logging on Borneo island, the national police chief said Friday.
The arrests followed a series of raids on illegal logging operations on Borneo in which police confiscated around 24 million dollars' worth of logs bound for China, Japan and Taiwan.
"Three police officials of Ketapang city in West Kalimantan, one of them a head of investigations, have been in police custody since yesterday (Thursday) evening," national police chief Sutanto told reporters.
National police spokesman Nataprawira said 19 people were under investigation in connection with the case.
Illegal logging is rampant in Indonesia, with environmental watchdog Greenpeace estimating that more than 72 percent of the country's ancient forests have been lost.
Much of the rest is threatened by commercial logging and clearance for palm oil plantations.
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