Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan. A joint security team from Indonesia’s National Police and the Armed Forces (TNI) raided an illegal coal mining site within the Bukit Soeharto Forest Park in Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan on Saturday afternoon, arresting five suspects and seizing coal worth an estimated Rp 80 billion ($4.8 million).

“We have taken legal action against illegal mining operations in the Bukit Soeharto area,” said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Irhamni, a director at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim).

During the operation, officers discovered two massive piles of illegally mined coal, each about seven meters high, along with hundreds of sacks filled with coal ready for distribution. The findings suggest that the unauthorized mining activities had been running for some time, Irhamni said.

Authorities launched the raid following reports from local residents and complaints from the Nusantara Capital Authority, as Bukit Soeharto lies within the designated area of Indonesia’s future capital city, Nusantara.

The suspects are being held on charges of forging mining permits as part of an ongoing investigation into illegal resource extraction in protected forest zones.