Six Vietnamese have been arrested after they were found with 400kg of old-growth Taiwan cypress believed to have been cut down in illegal logging operations in Nantou County, the National Police Agency (NPA) said yesterday.
The 14 wood blocks of Taiwan cypress, an endemic protected species classified as “precious,” could likely sell for more than NT$1 million (US$33,770) on the black market, the agency said.
The suspects, five men and one woman aged in their 20s and 30s, face charges of contravening the Forestry Act (森林法), NPA official Tsai Wen-cheng (蔡文正) said.
“We believe the group leader is a 28-year-old man surnamed Nguyen, who allegedly headed up the illegal logging operations, and was in charge of finding buyers for the valuable wood blocks,” Tsai said.
Five of the suspects are migrant workers who absconded from their contracted employment, while one was working in Taiwan legally, Tsai said.
The Nantou County Forest District Office earlier this year reported finding protected tree species chopped down in the county’s high mountain region, which they suspected was the work of a group of “mountain rats” (山老鼠) — a criminal ring that puts up camps in mountainous areas to illegally cut trees or poach wild animals, including endangered species, or engage in other illegal activity that cause environmental damage.
That prompted the NPA to form a task force to investigate, Tsai said.
Officers tracked the suspected activities of Nguyen’s group, finding where the trees had been cut down, the transportation route used in the mountains and the meeting points for potential buyers, Tsai said.
The agency on June 17 raided their suspected hiding place, a building in Changhua County’s Beidou Township (北斗), Tsai added.
Police also seized evidence of illegal logging, including a circular saw, three metal-frame backpacks, three pairs of wading boots for traversing streams and other tools, along with two vehicles for transporting logs, Tsai said.
The agency asked the public to help safeguard the nation’s forests by providing information on any suspected illegal logging or poaching by contacting local police or calling the Forestry Bureau’s hotline, 0800-000-930.
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