Jakarta, Aug. 19 -- Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will trace illegal gold smuggling networks from upstream production to downstream distribution following recent major seizures at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, officials said Tuesday.

Speaking at a news conference at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise headquarters in Jakarta, Sahid Junaidi, secretary of the ministry's enforcement division, emphasized that investigators will target the financial backers behind these illicit operations as well as audit mining permits.

"We at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources understand that mining is capital-intensive. Therefore, in our law enforcement efforts, we will look deeply into the financiers," S...