Five Kalimantan smugglers declared terror suspects
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.