Indonesian navy foils another attempt to smuggle wood to Malaysia

Antara, 31 July 2006:

Indonesian navy foils another attempt to smuggle wood to Malaysia

Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) has

caught an Indonesian-registered vessel in a patrol off the East

Kalimantan coast for attempting to smuggle wood to neighboring

Malaysia.

The vessel, KM Bidadari, was caught by officers of the Derawan naval

outpost in East Kalimantan on July 27, spokesman for the Eastern

Indonesian Fleet Command Lt. Col. Toni Syaiful said on Monday.

"The 40 GT vessel captained by Darwin Bin Idrus was carrying 50 cu

meters of wood from Batu Putih, East Kalimantan, to Tawau, Malaysia.

The vessel was caught because its crew failed to produce ship

documents and cargo certificates," he said.

The 10 crew members, all of them Indonesians, were later escorted by

the naval officers aboard a speed boat to the outpost for further

questioning, he said.

He said attempts to smuggle wood to Tawau, East Malaysia, were on the

increase. Earlier, the Indonesian Navy also caught MV Nidar believed

to smuggle wood to Tawau.