JAKARTA: Indonesia has charged 24 foreign nationals as criminal suspects in an illegal gold mining operation in the country's Maluku region, its energy ministry said.
Here are the details:
* The suspects were allegedly building infrastructure for the illegal mines, including roads and processing facilities around the Gunung Botak area of Maluku, said energy ministry official Jeffri Huwae in a statement released late on Thursday (June 25).
* Violations of the law could carry maximum prison sentences of five years, the ministry added.
* The ministry did not give the nationalities of the suspects or the amount of gold produced. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
* State news agency Antara reported last month that 24 Chinese nationals in Gunung Botak working under the sponsorship of local company PT Harmoni Alam Manise had been detained for questioning.
* The ministry said 12 of the foreign nationals are still at large and outside of Indonesia's jurisdiction, with the other 12 already detained.
* Two other Indonesians were named as criminal suspects along with the foreign nationals, the ministry added.
* There have been illegal mining operations involving foreign nationals previously.
* Police in Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua arrested four Chinese nationals in the Senggi district last year, Antara reported. - Reuters
