North Sumatra Police arrest suspected gun smugglers

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

North Sumatra Police have arrested eight alleged gunrunners they believed have trafficked hundreds of firearms from southern Thailand to members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh and North Sumatra.

The police caught the six men and two women in operations that ran from early last month until Feb. 7.

Chief of detectives Adj. Sr. Comr. Mardi Rukmianto said police uncovered the syndicate after they arrested a suspect, Ruslan Abdul Gani, in Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra on Jan. 8.

Two firearms hidden in a refrigerator were also seized.

Based on information from the suspect, police then arrested seven other suspects, he said.

Mardi said police believed the suspects came from two different gangs, that had acquired the arms from Thailand.

One alleged gang leader Muhammad Daud alias Daud Ali alias Daud Puteh, 53, was arrested on Jan. 15 in Tanjung Balai in North Sumatra.

Later, another gang leader Daud Rampok alias Daud Tareh alias Daud Hitam, 53, was arrested with his wife, Ida binti Kasim on Feb. 7 in Bandung. Also arrested were Yusuf Awi, 26; Hamdani, 22; Nazariah binti Kasim, 29; and Fauzi alias Adi, 22.

The police are still searching for several of the suspects' accomplices -- Rusdi Jambang, Daud Shanghai and GAM leaders Abu Dabi and Abu Bakar -- all of whom are believed to have fled to Nipis island in southern Thailand.

Last week, North Sumatra police chief, Insp. Gen. Edi Sunarno, said they had information gunrunners had smuggled in 93 AK-47 and M-16 rifles from southern Thailand to Aceh, 40 of which were still circulating in North Sumatra.

"The suspects arrested were from that syndicate," Mardi told The Jakarta Post.

Based on the confessions of those in Muhammad Daud's gang to police, smuggled firearms from Thailand were brought to the Idi Rayeuk village in East Aceh using a fishing boat last week. To outwit authorities, the firearms were concealed in gunnysacks.

Illegal firearms had been trafficked several times over a number of years from Thailand using a middleman named Abi.

In the first shipment in 2000, the suspects brought with them US$8,000 in cash from Aceh and went to Hat Yai in southern Thailand to acquire the contraband from Abi. They acquired a mixture of 13 AK-47 and M-16 rifles.

The contraband was later sent via Nipis island in southern Thailand to Idi Rayeuk in East Aceh. There, the two GAM leaders Abu Bakar and Abu Dabi received the guns.

After the first shipment was successful, in March and April 2001, the gang returned to Thailand bringing with them US$10,000.

This time the gunrunners were accompanied by two of Daud Puteh's friends, Rusdi and Daud. They went to Abi and bought 12 firearms. These guns were later sent to Aceh by sea and received by Abu Bakar.

In July and November 2001, the gang again returned to Thailand and bought a further 19 AK-47s, five M-16s and two pistols.

Finally, at the end of 2002, with $15,000 cash, they went back to Thailand, via Port Klang in Malaysia. From Malaysia they went overland to Hat Yai. At that time, they bought 42 guns -- 39 AK- 47s and three pistols.

"The weapons which they bought the last time are still believed to be circulating on the black market in North Sumatra. Police are continuing to investigate," Mardi said.

Members of Daud Rampok's gang had admitted to smuggling 87 firearms since 1987, he said. They trafficked them through Adang island in the south of Thailand.

Mardi was convinced the widespread sales of illegal firearms in North Sumatra were fueled by the gunrunners' operations.