East Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Frans Barung identified the passenger as a 36-year-old resident of Bukis Pakis Utara, Surabaya, identified only as SP.

“[SP] was on China Airlines flight CI-751 from Taiwan and changed planes in Singapore before landing at Juanda International Airport on Saturday at around 11:00 pm,” he said on Sunday as quoted by Antara.

He said SP’s luggage had raised suspicions when it went through the X-ray machine at the airport, triggering a manual search by airport security, who found five packages wrapped in tape scattered among piles of clothing.

After opening the packages, police found 400 bullets for various firearms as well as several firearm parts.

SP was flying with three family members, all of whom were identified as Indonesian citizens.

“They claimed they had come home from a vacation in Oregon in the United States and that’s where they got all these bullets,” Frans said.

SP also showed his Indonesian Shooting and Hunting Association (Perbakin) membership card to the police during the interrogation.

Frans said the investigation was still ongoing.

“We suspect the ammunition and firearm parts were brought into Indonesia illegally,” he said. (kmt)