SIBU: Based on a tip-off, Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) Sibu raided a motorised vessel (barge) moored at a sawmill located at Tanjung Manis.
The surprise raid caught the crew of the barge in the act of unloading unmarked logs from the barge into the sawmill premises.
The barge and 194 logs were subsequently detained as the logs were believed to have been illegally extracted from Kapit and smuggled to Tanjung Manis last Monday (6 Nov 2017) for conversion into sawn timber.
“The legality of the logs found on board the barge was questionable as these were all without official markings.
The barge operator was also unable to produce any document supporting legal ownership of the detained logs. As such, a report on the raid had been made at the Tanjung Manis Police Station on 8 November 2017,” said a SFC statement yesterday.
The case would be handed over to the Forest Department for further investigation and disposal.
