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Papua police detain arms smugglers
The Papua Police have arrested three people for allegedly smuggling arms into Papua by sea
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T
he Papua Police have arrested threepeople for allegedly smuggling arms into Papua by sea. The three suspects havebeen detained at the Papua Police headquarters. The seized weapons comprised twoSS1 assault rifles, one FN rifle and 123 bullets for various firearms.
Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian told reporters on Thursday that the three suspects were arrested in Sorong, West Papua, as they were about to depart for Nabire, Papua, by boat on June 30.
Suspect Simon Kararbo from Papua was tasked with contacting suspects Manase Wesara and Roger Koloba from Tobelo, North Maluku, to look for firearms to hand over to an armed criminal group in Paniai led by a man called Leo Yogi.
Tito said the weapons were to be used for the group's activities, such as extortion and instilling unrest. Furthermore, Tito said the suspects had admitted that the weapons were left over from the conflict in Ambon more than a decade ago.
"The suspects admitted that the weapons were from the Ambon conflict, but several weapons were also smuggled from the Philippines," he said.
The suspects have been detained under the law on firearms and could face the death penalty if found guilty.
Deputy police chief Brig. Gen. Pol Paulus Waterpau said he was worried that arms trafficking in Papua could influence children to drop out of school as they may think that owning firearms would get them what they wanted. (fss/dic)
