The police on Thursday arrested 31 suspects for allegedly logging as much as 3.5 tonnes of precious trees in Hsinchu County’s Smangus Village (司馬庫斯).
The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office and local police officers confiscated the consignment of wood, which included Taiwanese incense cedar, Taiwanese yellow cedar, red cypress and cinnamon trees, with the largest piece of lumber measuring 1.6m in diameter and 10m in length.
Seventh Special Police Corps Fifth Division officer Chen Fu-feng (陳富豐) said the syndicate was allegedly led by Ho Cheng-yi (何正義) and Ho Ming-fa (何明發), and consisted primarily of members of a local Atayal Aboriginal family.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
Two of the suspects, Ho Ming-fa and Lou Yang (樓樣), are on probation after a 2012 conviction for lumbering superannuated trees in Yilan County, Chen said.
After an all-night questioning session, prosecutors detained 12 suspects to avoid possible collusion, evidence tampering and to prevent them from absconding.
With the exception of Ho Ming-fa and two suspected buyers, nine suspects were released on bail of NT$20,000, he said.
Ho Kung-tsai (何恭財), one of the main suspects, and Lou are still at large, he added.
“The suspects were mainly after precious tree knobs, as high-quality specimens command prices of between NT$200,000 and NT$300,000 each,” Chen said.
Members of the community routinely check on the precious trees, which apparently alarmed the suspects, who then resorted to threatening the village chief, with Lou allegedly saying they would shoot villagers if anyone informed the police of the operation, he said.
Chen said the alleged operation was conducted in an organized manner, with Ho Cheng-yi, his wife, daughter and three siblings in charge of lumbering trees and Ho Kung-tsai responsible for identifying potential buyers.
The Forestry Bureau in November last year informed Chen’s unit about the illegal logging case, he said, which resulted in the launch of a six-month-long investigation that resulted in the prosecutors’ office being asked to lead the onsite inspection.
“We collected DNA and fingerprints from cigarette butts found at the scene and installed hidden cameras and managed to identify some key suspects,” he said.
The suspects have been charged with conspiracy, possession of illegal property and for breaches of the Forestry Act (森林法), Chen said.
The hard-to-reach Smangus Village, known by Taiwanese as the “Village of God” for its ethereal beauty, has become a well-known tourist destination in recent years.
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