T

he South Sulawesi Police have seized 489 sacks of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in explosives and fertilizers, that were brought into the country from Malaysia and the Philippines on ships, a senior police figure says.

The sacks, each containing 25 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, were seized near Taka Bonerate National Park in Selayar Islands regency last week and were transported to Makassar on Tuesday.

It is thought the chemicals were to be used to make explosives for fishing.

The sacks had been transported from Malaysia and the Philippines to Indonesia on two ships from the Selayar Islands, the police’s marine unit director Sr. Comr. Agus Sutikno said.

He said the police were holding the captains of the ships as suspects. They were identified as Hasanuddin, captain of KLM Dewi Anjani, and Sukri, captain of KLM Fajar Islam.

KLM Dewi Anjani was reported to have been carrying 2,000 sacks from Malaysia but the police seized 257 sacks. Some 232 sacks were confiscated from a reported total of 1,800 sacks brought from the Philippines on the ship KLM Fajar Islam.

“They had been selling the sacks to locals on their way to Bonerate Island,” Agus said.

The captains of the two ships tried to evade arrest by entrusting their dossiers to local people, Agus said.

However, the police, assisted by the commander of the local military district command, persuaded the crew of the ship to hand over the ammonium nitrate.

The suspects confessed that the explosives had been purchased from Kuantan, Malaysia, and the Philippines at a price of Rp 250,000 per sack. They had sold them to locals around the Selayar Islands for between Rp 600,000 and Rp 1.5 million per sack.

Ammonium nitrate is used as a fertilizer, especially for oil palm trees, and is readily available and legally traded in Malaysia and the Philippines, Agus said.

However, the chemical is banned in Indonesia to prevent it from being used to make explosives.

A kilogram of ammonium nitrate can produce up to four explosive devices suitable for fishing, Agus said.

The 3,311 sacks that the fishermen had already sold could produce 3 millions bombs, he continued.

“You can imagine how enormous an impacts the bombs could have on the environment,” Agus said.

The police are also concerned that ammonium nitrate might fall into the hands of terrorists, Agus said