Police, military deny involvement in North Sumatra wildlife trade

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post 2 Jun 08;

The police and the military in North Sumatra denied on Saturday accusations that officers had been systematically involved in the rampant wildlife trade in the province.

An alliance of nongovernmental organizations advocating for wildlife conservation in northern Sumatra have accused security personnel of trafficking protected and endangered species from their habitats in the region.

Spokesman for the North Sumatra Provincial Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar said he had never heard about the alleged involvement of police in the wildlife trade, because as a state institution dealing with security matters, the police would never provide protection for any personnel involved in such crimes.

"Wildlife trade is classified as a serious crime and therefore, police personnel found guilty of any involvement in such a crime will certainly be punished harshly," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the police handled two wildlife trade cases in the province this year but both had allegedly involved civilians. Three civilians were brought to justice after they were caught red-handed trading black crows in Pematang Siantar and trying to smuggle scaly anteaters at the Belawan Port in two separate cases, he said.

The smuggling of protected animals from Southeast Aceh often took place on the North Sumatra and Aceh border area, while the ports of Belawan and Tanjung Balai were transit points for smugglers on their way to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, Baharudin said.

"Security authorities and the public should enhance communication in supervising the conservation areas in the two provinces, to minimize the rampant poaching of protected species and the wildlife trade," he said.

Security supervision along the two provinces' border areas needed to be enhanced, as traders had been able to traffic endangered species out of the region, he added.

Two weeks ago, the police in Tiga Binanga, Karo regency, arrested three civilians and a middle-ranking Army soldier engaging in a deal over Sumatran tigers' leathers and parts worth Rp 13 million per piece. The tiger leathers were believed be brought from Southeast Aceh.

Spokesman for the Bukit Barisan Military Command overseeing security in the region, Capt. Ari S., also denied military servicemen's involvement in the wildlife business, saying the military court would have arrested any servicemen involved.

"We have never given any legal protection to servicemen committing such serious violations and those involved will be punished as harshly as possible. But we have never recorded any military servicemen being involved in such crimes," he said.

The UN conference on biodiversity in Germany in which 191 countries took part concluded on Friday, with a package to protect wildlife and financial incentives for developing nations, including Indonesia.

The World Wild Fund for Nature has often advocated against the rampant poaching which has left only 150 tigers in the Leuser National Park, fueled by increasing demand for their parts in Southeast Asia. It also reported at least 66 Sumatran tigers and tens of elephants were killed and thousands of protected anteaters and birds were smuggled from the province to other countries.