Police nab arms smugglers

JAKARTA: The North Sumatra Police have detained seven members of two arms smuggling rings that allegedly supplied weapons to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

National Police deputy spokesperson Brig. Gen. Soenarko said on Tuesday that the two smuggling rings, one led by Daud Hitam and the other by Daud Puteh, admitted that the last separate transactions they conducted was on Adang island in Thai waters.

It was not clear who supplied the illegal arms.

Soenarko said police were still looking for at least 11 other suspects.

Daud Puteh admitted to police that he had been involved in five deliveries, smuggling 93 weapons.

Puteh also said his buyer went by either Nurdin or Abu Dhabi and claimed to be the GAM treasurer in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh.

Meanwhile, Daud Hitam told police that his smuggling ring had bought 16 AK-47 rifles worth Rp 7 million (US$843) on Adang island and had smuggled them to Idi Rayeuk, where they sold the rifles at Rp 15 million each.

Hitam and his accomplices hid the rifles in brand-new refrigerators, each holding 8 rifles. -- JP