JAKARTA - Indonesian police today said they were detaining two Malaysians for illegal logging in Papua province and had seized a tugboat and a barge loaded with timber.

Lee Kah Wai and Lai Chee Kiong had been detained in the province since early last month following a raid on logging sites, said provincial police spokesman Daud Sihombing.

They are being held in the coastal town of Sorong on the westernmost tip of the province pending trial. Three Indonesians working for a local sawmill were also detained.

Police seized a tugboat and barge used to transport some 9,000 cubic metres of logs, the state Antara news agency quoted Papua police chief Inspector General Budi Utomo as saying.

Last month President Megawati Sukarnoputri ordered a new drive to catch illegal loggers after a flood blamed on deforestation killed an estimated 250 people in North Sumatra province. - AFP