Acting on information from an informant, they found a wooden house surrounded by the stumps of trees.
The encroachers appeared to have left in a hurry; the officers were able to seize piles of timber, some sawn into planks, along with chain saws and hand saws, ropes and pulleys and tins of gasoline.
They also seized a small-calibre hunting rifle with with 15 bullets, registered to a Rungrote Kwanyuen. Officers will now locate him and bring him in for questioning.
It is not yet clear whether this was an illegal logging operation or whether the encroachers had been clearing the forest around the house to create a personal hilltop getaway for someone.