Five Kalimantan smugglers declared terror suspects

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police have detained five people for involvement in terrorist activities after they were caught last week allegedly smuggling explosive materials and equipment into the country.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said that a man and four women arrested in Nunukan, East Kalimantan last week had bought the explosive materials in Tawau, Malaysia.

"Right now the East Kalimantan police are still questioning the suspects about their purpose in buying the materials and where they intended to take them," Soenarko said on Tuesday.

He said that national police headquarters had also contacted their Malaysian counterparts to help investigate the case.

Police first apprehended two women identified as and WR in Nunukan harbor on Oct. 13. The women were carrying a total of 177 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer chemical that can be used to make bombs.

After arresting the first two women the police later tracked down a man identified as CS. He was arrested the next day in Tarakan, still in East Kalimantan.

The police later arrested two more women, FT and HD, in Nunukan and Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi respectively on Oct. 16. They were carrying around 212 kilograms of ammonium nitrate.

According to the East Kalimantan Police previously quoted by detikcom, the group initially consisted of eight people but three managed to escape when police tried to arrest them.

Apart from the explosive materials, the police also found 1,000-meters of fuse suspectedly to be used for a planned bomb. Around 900 detonators were also found during the arrests.

However, Soenarko could not say how many bombs could be made from the confiscated materials, nor the plans of the would-be bombers.

"We just have to wait for the results of questioning," Soenarko said.

He explained that the five people would be charged under State of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on illegal possession of firearms and explosive materials. If proven guilty of the charges, the maximum penalty is death.

The suspects would also be charged under Law No. 10/1995 on customs that carries maximum penalty of eight years, as they allegedly smuggled the materials into Indonesia.