Police recover 50 stolen detonators in Balikpapan

Mikael Onny Setiawan, The Jakarta Post, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan

Police here said on Wednesday that they had recovered 50 detonators only five hours after they were stolen from a ship carrying them from Jakarta to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The police also arrested five suspects who have been charged with the theft of the devices from the Sinar Samudra Delapan while it was docked at Semayang Port, Balikpapan.

"We are investigating to see whether the crime is linked to any existing terrorist groups," said Balikpapan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Kodirun Karya.

The five suspects are: Hamka bin Hafid, 25, Abdul Basir bin Ibrahim, 30, Jumansyah, alias Dogo bin Sebe, 20, Lukman bin Syamsuddin, 31, and an unidentified mute man.

They are suspected of belonging to a group of pirates who are known to use a motorized canoe to rob ships at night.

The police seized their canoe and tools, including a crowbar and a coil of rope, which were allegedly used to steal the detonators on Tuesday at around 10 p.m. amid bad weather.

At 2:45 a.m. on Wednesday, the suspects were nabbed along with the stolen detonators at Telaga Mas Port, some two kilometers from the beach in West Balikpapan, Kodirun said.

The stolen devices were taken from six crates containing 300 detonators.

The suspects claimed they did not know the objects were detonators when they made off with them, Kodirun said.

"You could imagine what might happen if the stolen detonators were not recovered. They could be misused by irresponsible people," he added.

The detonators, which had been transported initially from the West Java town of Tasikmalaya, were shipped on Jan. 29 from Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, and arrived in Balikpapan early on Tuesday.

The devices belong to oil exploration and mining company PT Sembrani Persada Oil in Bontang, some 260 kilometers north of East Balikpapan.

Balikpapan Police lamented the lax security, saying such a potentially dangerous cargo should have been escorted by at least two police officers.

Only one West Java police officer was guarding the shipment to Balikpapan, Kodirun said.

Neither the guard nor the ship's crew reported to local police when the boat called into port, he added.

It is not clear whether the purchaser of the detonators will be questioned over the incident.

Last month, 5,796 electronic detonators were stolen from a warehouse in Central Kalimantan belonging to Palangka Raya-based mining company PT Hansur Jaya Utama.

Police had recovered most of the stolen devices the next week.

The detonator thefts have raised fears among the public and security authorities that they could be used by certain groups to make and set off bombs illegally.