Raids catch 12 for unlicensed gun possession
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)