[REVISION HISTORY]

European police illegal logging crackdowns

Updated 4 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-10 16:48 UTC → 2026-08-16 10:15 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In early July, Kosovo police seized equipment used for illegal logging in Kaçanik. By late July, Romanian authorities launched coordinated raids in Brașov, Sălaj and Apuseni Natural Park, detaining forest workers, confiscating timber, motor‑saws, vehicles and even illegally harvested blueberries, and imposing fines amounting to several hundred thousand lei. The crackdown continued into August. In Hunedoara County, police and forest‑guard specialists seized 70.236 m³ of illegally cut wood in Cerbăl, valued over 18 000 lei, and fined the responsible commercial entity 15 000 lei. Across the first half of 2026, more than 300 enforcement actions and 1 200 controls yielded a total of 1 528.43 m³ of timber seized nationwide. In Brașov, officers stopped a 34‑year‑old man dragging four felled trees, opening a criminal investigation. Further enforcement in Sălaj County involved a large‑scale operation that recovered approximately 8 million lei in damages, confiscated over 1,000 m³ of illegal wood, and uncovered 243 offences, including fraud and abuse of office. In Lucăcești, police used the SUMAL 2.0 application to intercept a vehicle transporting 3.4 cubic meters of undocumented softwood, resulting in a 4,000 lei fine. ~~These actions demonstrate a sustained, expanding effort by European police, particularly~~ In mid-August, Romanian ~~forces, to combat~~ Minister of Environment, Waters and Forests, Diana Buzoianu, announced that Forest Guard inspections uncovered large-scale illegal ~~forest exploitation.~~ logging in the Pădurea Bogății private forestry district. Investigators identified over 800 illegally felled trees across five cantons. Buzoianu criticized district administrators for attempting to minimize the findings and stated that financial damages will be imputed to the responsible foresters. Legal action, including a criminal complaint, is forthcoming.

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