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13 August 2004
33 tonnes of smuggled ramin logs seized...
In JOHOR BAHRU, the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) has prevented a syndicate from smuggling timber from Indonesia with the
seizure of 33 tonnes (49 cu. m.) of Ramin logs in Batu Pahat and Pontian last month,
an MTIB statement said.
Its licensing and enforcement director Norchahaya Hashim said the raid was carried out at 9 pm on July 25 with the cooperation of
the Customs Department when two lorries carrying the logs were were tailed to a sawn
log processing factory in Pontian.
"The syndicate tried to smuggle Ramin logs via Sungai Batu Pahat after unloading them from Indonesian vessels at a well-guarded and
isolated spot," she said in the statement.
The factory owners have been fined RM35,000 under the Customs Acts 1967 for keeping smuggled timber. In May, MTIB and Selangor
Customs seized 32 cu. m. of Ramin from a private jetty in Port Klang.
Ramin is listed in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endagered Species (CITES), and requires an Indonesian
CITES permit to import.
Norchahaya said MTIB has offered to return the logs to the Indonesian CITES authorities but would destroy them if no response is
received by an agreed date.
The Malaysian government banned the import of Indonesian logs on June 25 2002. | |
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