Police arrest 2, seize 1,669 explosive devices

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Police special crimes detection unit (Tipiter) arrested two men for questioning and are hunting another following the finding of 1,669 small explosive devices in a warehouse in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, on Tuesday afternoon.

City police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Harry Montolalu said on Wednesday that the explosives were imported from a Chinese factory and had arrived in Jakarta by sea.

He identified the factory as Sunny International Fireworks Co. Ltd. and those arrested as warehouse owner Suwandi, alias Along, 37, and warehouse security guard Roberto Wijaya Oei, 44.

"These men are only involved with the warehouse. Anybody can rent the warehouse from them and store anything they want in it," Harry told reporters.

Despite the fact that no link has been found as yet between the explosives and the recent nationwide wave of bomb blasts, Harry said there was a significant possibility that these explosives -- which bear "extremely dangerous" hazard warnings -- were illegally brought into Indonesia in order to be "doctored" by experts.

"These explosives could easily be doctored by bomb-making experts to produce blasts of much, much higher intensity. They could have been made into high explosive bombs," Harry asserted.

He said that the explosives were illegal, since they were brought into Jakarta -- by PT Trijaya and importer PT Idiraya Multi Sarana -- using a police permit for the "importation of firecrackers."

"The permit was for importing firecrackers, and was signed on Oct. 3, 2000. It is also clearly written on the permit that as soon as the firecrackers arrived in Jakarta, the owner must inform National Police Headquarters of their arrival for security purposes. This was not done," Harry said.

The permit was made out in the name of Agustino, the import manager of PT Idiraya Multi Sarana, whose offices are located at Jl. Gorontalo II No. 4, Tanjung Priok, according to Harry.

Having led the raid on the Penjaringan warehouse, located at Jl. Muara Baru Ujung No. 2A, special crimes unit chief Comr. Tatok Sudjiarto said on Wednesday that police were currently searching for the explosives' owner, who is currently at large.

"His name is Oei Asin. Even his wife, Then Kim Tjien, has fled. They reside on Jl. Pasar Pagi in Roa Malaka subdistrict, North Jakarta," Tatok told The Jakarta Post.

Tatok said that his team had acted following a tip-off from an informant in the Penjaringan area.

"We received the tip-off at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday. I went with my team to the location. We raided the place and found hundreds of packages containing explosives and firecrackers," Tatok said.

The police seized over 3,800 firecrackers in the raid.

The explosive devices were of at least seven different sizes, ranging from the smallest of tennis-ball size up to mortar rounds the size of watermelons.

A warning on one of the mortars read: "Extremely Dangerous! This product is for professional use only. Directions for firing: Bury 3/4 of mortar in ground. Gently lower shell into bottom of mortar with fuse end facing up. Do not use fuse as handle. Do not force shell down.

"Remove colored paper cap from fuse and ignite. The shell is constructed to fire instantly.

"Absolutely do not position any part of human body or anything else over mouth of mortar at any time." (ylt)