Man arrested with 1,000 detonators

Man arrested with 1,000 detonators

INDONESIA: East Nusa Tenggara Police said on Saturday they had arrested a man in possession of 1,000 detonators.

"The preliminary assumption is that the detonators were going to be sold for illegal fishing purposes, but we are not discounting other possibilities," said provincial police chief Edward Aritonang.

The 40-year-old man was arrested on Friday in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, as he attempted to board a ship to the neighboring town of Maumere, Edward said.

The arrest comes a week after police detained four women and a man for smuggling nearly 400 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, 900 detonators and 20 pieces of wire from Malaysia into Indonesia.

The five were arrested in the border town of Nunukan in East Kalimantan.

Edward said the man arrested in East Nusa Tenggara also possessed an ID card issued in Nunukan, but gave no details as to whether he had any links to the five arrested last week.

Explosives are commonly used for fishing in Indonesia, a practice that is banned by authorities. -- AFP