JAKARTA: The police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 2,952 bullets and shells to Papua. The ammunition was found on Monday with no proper documents and was ready to be dispatched to Papua, the police stated. It was suspected that the ammunition had been ordered by Papuan separatists.
“We are still investigating,” Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Muhammad Iqbal said, as quoted by tribunnews.com on Tuesday.
The ammunition consists of 575 38-caliber bullets, 1,000 7.65×51-caliber bullets, 500 9×19-caliber bullets and 877 5.56×45-caliber bullets. These bullets were scheduled to be sent off to Papua using a Garuda Indonesia plane on Monday night.
The police arrested Sumadi, who checked the baggage in at the airport.
During his interrogation, Sumadi said the package was ordered by a man named Komeng or Komarudin in Papua. The police found out later on that the order was requested by a man named Ibnu, who was a member of a separatist group in Papua.
The ammunition is now being kept at the airport and the police are still investigating the case.
