Police arrest 8 for gun smuggling

Police arrest 8 for gun smuggling

INDONESIA: Police said on Saturday they arrested eight people suspected of smuggling hundreds of firearms from southern Thailand to rebels in war-torn Aceh province.

Six men and two women were arrested in North Sumatra and in West Java in January and February, said local police district chief Lt. Col. Arman Depari.

Depari said the suspects were alleged members of a gun syndicate that has been operating since 1987.

"They admitted to having smuggled hundreds of AK-47's, M-16 machine-guns and mostly from Hat Yai in southern Thailand to northern Sumatra and Aceh by using a fishing boat," he said.

"They sold the weapons to rebels in Aceh."

-- AP