Raids catch 12 for unlicensed gun possession
JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta police have arrested 12 men suspected of possessing guns and bullets without legal permits, during raids over the last five days, the chief said on Friday.
Col. Nono Suprijono said the 12 men, including two soldiers, are believed to have supplied weapons to members of the Free Aceh Movement Forces (AGAM) in the northern tip of Sumatra.
"Two have already confessed to being middlemen for GAM," Nono told reporters.
The 12 suspects were apprehended separately at several places in Jakarta and the West Java capital of Bandung from Monday to Friday.
Based on preliminary testimonies of the suspects, police are still tracing the whereabouts of at least eight other men, including an Army mayor and a police sergeant from the elite Mobile Brigade unit, Nono told reporters.
From the 12 suspects, police seized 5,306 rubber and conventional bullets, 22 revolvers and rifles, and eight magazines.
A truck loaded with seven kilograms of marijuana, allegedly used in exchange for the weapons, has also been secured as evidence at the Pondok Indah police station, Nono said.
Police identified the main suspects as Andi Kholid, Andi Sunarto and Iskandar.
The two military officers are identified as Second Sgt. Jhon and Second Corporal Idris of the 7th Artillery Battalion in Medan, North Sumatra.
The others are Sarmili, alias Ali, Hendrik Prayoga, Fachrizal, Hanafiah, Haris, Sugandi and Bob.
"The suspects sold the goods to the GAM officers, who they identified as Tengku Hamdani Juned and Saleh, and got Aceh marijuana in exchange. It was a barter transaction," officer Nono said.
Fachrizal told reporters that he bought a Colt from Andi Kholid for Rp 7 million (US$930) and later sold it to Hamdani for Rp 8 million in Jakarta.
"Hamdani then left for Aceh, where he was killed by the Army," Fachrizal said.
According to the National Police, the Military Police were handling several cases of Army and police officers suspected of either drug dealing or planting marijuana since 1996 in several areas across the country, particularly in Sumatra.
They include the outstanding cases of Police Chief Sgt. M. Nur Bardan of Aceh Provincial Police, who was arrested on June 19, 1996 for owning 60,000 plants on five hectares of land in Indrapuri district of Aceh Besar; and Chief Private Lalu K of the 0107 Military District Command in South Aceh who was caught with 45 kilograms of marijuana on Nov. 25, 1996.
Officer Nono said the arrests started on Monday when the suspects tried to sell a .22 caliber Colt pistol to his undercover detectives Hendrik, Ali and Andi Kholid on Jl. Mabad in Pondok Ranji, Ciputat, in South Jakarta.
The detectives later found two other similar Colt guns, one .22 caliber FN gun, two magazines for an M-16 rifle, a machete and 1,055 bullets.
The arrests then lead to the detention of the other suspects.
The eight other suspects still at large are identified as Army Maj. Supriyadi, Police First Sgt. Prabowo, Sulaiman, Harris, Faisal, Aming, Epos, and Saleh. (ylt)